


Unexpectedly Perfect

by juli_with_a_chance



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Multi, kadena as parents, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-05-30 20:31:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 84,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15104342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juli_with_a_chance/pseuds/juli_with_a_chance
Summary: You can find me on tumblr at juli-with-a-chance if you have any suggestions on what you would like this to be or criticism on things you may not agree with. I’m open to everything in order to make my writing better.





	1. Chapter 1

-Kat POV-

I walk out of the elevator and towards the front desk of Scarlet Magazine when I feel an aggressive tug at my arm, “fashion closet!” Sutton says frantically, dragging me in the direction of the familiar hideout for Jane, Sutton, and myself.

“Fashion closet?” Jane asks, getting up from her desk when she feels us rushing by.

“Evidently,” I say, trying to free myself from Sutton’s grasp. “Why are we here? I have a meeting in five minutes.” I say, checking the time on my phone and the number of retweets my most recent tweet was getting.

“Oliver put me in charge of finding him a new photographer.”

“And this is an emergency because?” I ask, looking over at her and Jane as I try to leave for my meeting.

“I’ve never reviewed anything like that before, it’s more than just viewing someone’s Instagram.”

“Sutton, you know what Oliver would want from a photographer, just review portfolios, and resumes and you’ll be able to make that choice,” Jane says.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine. I have to go.” I say, walking out of the closet.

“Excuse me?” A breathy voice asks as I walk back to my desk. I turn to see a woman standing there, wearing a maroon hijab, that being the first thing to catch my eye, and a polite smile playing on her lips.

“H-how can I help you?” I ask, feeling a bit caught off guard.

“I’m looking for a Miss…” she begins, looking through her bag and pulling out a piece of paper. “Brady. Sutton Brady, I have an interview with her.”

“Oh, for the photographer position?”

“Yes. I’m Adena El-Amin.” The woman says, holding her hand out for me to shake.

“Kat Edison, social media director here at Scarlet.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Edison,” Adena says politely.

“Please, call me Kat. The position I have doesn’t make me any more formal than anyone else here. I don’t even call my boss by her last name.”  
“Okay, it’s very nice to meet you, Kat.” She says, there is a softness in the way she speaks that is captivating and confusing. “So, Sutton?”

“Right. Sorry, if you go just into that office there, you’ll be able to find her, she’s the blonde that looks as if she’s running around like a chicken without its head.” I say, causing Adena to let out a small chuckle.

“Thank you,” She says, placing her hand in my arm lightly before walking away.

“No problem.” I smile as she makes her way towards Sutton. I make my way back to my desk after my quick meeting with Jaqueline about tomorrow night’s Scarlet event. I put out a few tweets before looking over the schedule for tomorrow night.

“Thank you again for your help, Kat,” Adena says over my shoulder. I turn in my chair and look up at her with a smile.

“You’re welcome, Adena,” something about her name makes me get a sensation in the pit of my stomach. “Am I going to be seeing you around the office?” I say it before I register it leaving my lips.

“You might.” She says with a nod, pulling her bag onto her shoulder when it starts to fall. “If you aren’t too busy working.”

“As the social media director, it’s my job to let our followers know what’s going on around the office and tease them about things going on behind the scenes.”

“I see.”

“So, I’ll see you around?” I ask, standing up from my chair.

“Yes, you will.” Adena smiles. “I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you and I’ll see you around.” She says, turning on her heels and walking out of the office, I couldn’t help but stare as she walked away, something about her threw me for a loop and I wanted to know more about her as soon as possible.

“Are you staring at Adena?” Sutton whispers playfully in my ear.

“What? No.” I say, sitting back down at my computer.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I say, sending out a tweet related to something that seemed important.

“You know, it’s okay if you like a woman.”  
“I’m straight, Sutton.”

“You sure about that?” She whispers in my ear before walking away.

* * *

“Are you stalking Adena’s Instagram?” Sutton asks over my shoulder from where I was sat on the couch as Sutton, Jane, and I had dinner together.

“Can you not?”

“What’s going on?” Jane asks, walking over from the kitchen with three glasses of wine.

“Well you know how I had to interview photographers today, one of them that came in was Adena El-Amin. Our little Kat here is smitten with Ms. El-Amin.”

“I am not smitten.”

“Okay.” Sutton exaggerates taking a sip from her glass. “If you’re not smitten, then what would you call it?”

“Intrigued,” I say, staring into my glass.

“Well, if that’s what you want to call it,” Jane says.

“I’m straight, you know that both of you know that, I’m straight,” I say, almost as if I’m reminding myself more than I’m reminding them. “And I only had one conversation with her. It’s not like I know her all that well.”

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter if it’s a brief encounter or if you’re talking for months when you know, you know.”

“I guess you’re right.” I shrug. “I just don’t know how to explain it, it just felt so off when I saw her, not in a bad way. I just never looked at someone and felt something before.” I say, looking up at Jane and Sutton to see them staring at me with awe and confusion. “Whatever you want to say, just say it.”

“You’re smitten,” Jane says, taking a sip from her glass.

“Smitten.” Sutton smiles.

“I hate both of you right now.”

“No you don’t, look we’ll give it some time and see what happens. Just so you know I offered her the job and she’s going to be around often.” Sutton chimes.

“She told me that.”

“She must be looking forward to seeing you again too if that’s the case.” Jane chimes, looking up from her laptop.

“Do either of you have anything to discuss, we’re talking about me too much.”

“A mild identity crisis is more important at the moment.”

“It isn’t an identity crisis. I know who I am.” I say, trying to play it off like everything was okay.

* * *

“Kat!” Jaqueline calls from across the office space, I look up in her direction to see her waving me into her office. “How are you?” She asks as she sits back done on her desk.

“Good, everything is ready for tonight’s event.”

“Wonderful to hear, so I called you here because we need a little more traffic coming to the sight, our numbers weren’t as great as they have been.” She says, holding ho a graph. “I trust you will be able to asses the issue and fix it accordingly, but there is a meeting tomorrow and I would like for you to join me in meeting with the board, seeing as they may need a different perspective on things from our social media director.” She says with a smirk.

“Of course, I can’t wait.”

“Wonderful, until then make sure the numbers are climbing,” Jaqueline says with a nod.

“I will,” I say with a smile, walking out of her office and wandering over to Jane.

“Yes?” Jane says, not looking up from her computer screen.

“What are you doing?”

“Working.” She says, taking a second and looking up at me. “You want to go see that photographer don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I say quietly with a small nod as I play with something on Jane’s desk.

“So go.”

“Would that be weird. Just walking in?”

“Go see Sutton, it will be fine.” She says going back to work.

“Fine, I’m just going to go let our readers know what’s going on,” I say, holding up my phone.

“Love you!” Jane calls out as I walk towards the studio.

“I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance.” Sutton chimes as I walk into the photo shoot.

“Shut up. I’m here to let our fans know what’s going on, smile for Insta.” I say, holding my phone up. “Wonderful.” I chime, watching as Sutton walks back over to where Adena was looking over some photos on a computer.

“How do we look?” Sutton asks Adena.

“Pretty good, I think we may need to reshoot only a couple of these, the lighting wasn’t right on them.”

“Okay.”

“I sent the model to change and the staff is resetting everything, I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s your vision that we are entrusting you with, based on these if you want to do a reshoot it’s okay with me, we have the time.” Sutton chimes.

“Wonderful, it won’t be long,” Adena says politely, as she turns back to where the model walked in she catches my eye and smiles. “Hello, Kat.” She smiles, walking over to me.

“Hello, Adena,” I say, as she pulls me into a hug.

“How are you?” She asks, holding my shoulders.

“Good, working.”

“You still found time to come down here?” She says playfully.

“Posting on Instagram is work.” I chime, causing Adena to let out a low chuckle.

“Social media director, I almost forgot.”

“So there, I am working.” I chime, holding up my phone, “would you mind if I gave them a little sneak peek?” I say, walking back to angle the photo in a way where it teases what’s going on.  
“Can I see it?”

“It’s just of the set,” I say, showing her the picture.

“You have an eye.” Adena smiles.

“It’s just a silly photo with an Instagram filter.”

“Yes it may just be a silly photo, but sometimes people can even take a silly photo and have it come out good, no matter how many filters they add to it.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I don’t want to be forward, would you like to have a coffee sometime?”

“Y-yeah. I would like that.” I say with a small smile.

“Great, I’ll come to find you when I’m done here and we’ll make a date.” Adena smiles before turning around and meeting one of her assistants who is handing her a camera.

“Did I hear the word ‘date’?” Sutton asks from behind me.

“Coffee. Just coffee.”

“I especially remember hearing the word date. In that breathy tone of hers.”

“Fine, She called it that though.”

“You weren’t opposed to the idea of it being a date though.”

“Are you sure fashion is the right field for you? You seem like you should be in psychoanalysis.”

“Why can’t I just do both?” Sutton says playfully.

“Sutton, sorry to interrupt, but I think we’re done,” Adena says as she walks over to us.

“Great, I’ll review everything and print them for Oliver,” Sutton says, walking over to the computer.

“So, I didn’t have to go far to find you.”

“I was just hanging out.” I shrug.

“Ah, so would you like to get a coffee? If you have time now?”

“Okay.” I nod.

* * *

We ended up downstairs in the lobby of the building, sitting at a small table close to the window that looked over the courtyard. “So how was your first day?” I asked, fiddling with the lid of my coffee cup.

“Good, a little different than what I’m used to as far as working but it was fun.”

“That’s good.”

“So, Kat.”

“So, Adena,” I say playfully, causing Adena to smile.

“Can I ask you something a little personal?”

“Okay.” I nod, taking a sip from my cup.

“What is your sexual orientation?” She asks, casting her eyes down as she sits back on her chair a bit before looking back up at me. “It isn’t a come on by any means, you look scared.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t assuming anything, but I am straight,” I say convincingly.

“Are you sure about that?” She challenges, bringing her coffee cup to her lips as she raises an eyebrow.


	2. Chapter 2

-Adena POV-

“Hello, Jane. I’m Adena.” I say politely, walking over with my hand extended for her to shake, she takes it with a small smile.

“Nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard good things about your work since you’ve started,” Jane says. I’ve been working for Scarlet for about two weeks now, and it seems as though I’ve made a reputation for myself already for being well at my craft.

“Thank you, so we’re just doing headshots, yes?”

“Yep, Jaqueline wants me to have a few headshots, be a bit more professional.” Jane chimes, walking over to sit on the stool across the room.

“Jane! What are your plans for later? Oh, sorry.” Kat says when she looks up from her phone. “I’ll talk to you when you’re done.”

“Hello, Kat,” I say with a smirk, watching as her cheeks flush slightly. Ever since asking her about her sexuality she has been a little more shy, almost nervous.

“Hey, Adena.”

“How are you?” I ask as I continue to take pictures if Jane.

“I’m well, and you?”

“Well.” I look over at her and shoot her a smile, watching as she gets shy and looks down, hiding her red cheeks behind her curls.

“Not to be rude, but you can cut the sexual tension in here with a knife and I need these shots done,” Jane says, composing herself as I continue to take her picture.

“I’m going to go back to work. Come find me when you’re done.” Kat says to Jane, pointing around to make her point as she walks away.

“You care for Kat deeply, don’t you?” I ask Jane, finishing up the shoot.

“She and I, and Sutton, we all started here at the same time. We kind of just struck up a friendship over running for coffee. So to answer your question, yes I do care deeply for, Kat. She’s like the sister I never had. They both are.”

“You light up when you talk about her. It’s evident that you care for her.” I say, watching her smile for a moment at the thought of how she cares for her friend. I take the opportunity to snap the final picture, looking at the screen, happy with the result. “I think you should use this one,” I say, walking over towards her and holding out the camera for her to see it.

“You just took that one?”

“Yes, it’s natural, it’s not forced. If you ask me, it’s professional.”

“Thank you. Send that one to Jaqueline?”

“Of course.” I nod as Jane smiles at me. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you, I have to get going though. I have a deadline.”

“Yeah, go. I’ll have this to Jaqueline by the end of the day.” I say as Jane rushes out of the conference room. I begin putting my camera back in my bag and taking down the lighting when I feel someone standing in the doorway. “You can talk to me, you don’t have to stare,” I smirk, catching Kat out of the corner of my eye.

“Sorry, I forgot what I was going to say.” She says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you want help?”

“I’ve got it, thank you though.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Would you like to come by some time for dinner?” I ask, not caring about my forwardness.

“Uhm.”

“It doesn’t have to be a date, just friends having dinner together, I know you’re straight Kat.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“The day you told me, you said it in a way that you made it seem you were unsure if you were in fact straight or not.”

“I am sure though.” She stammers.

“Okay. So you wouldn’t mind having dinner with me as friends.”

“No, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Wonderful, tomorrow night around seven good with you?” I ask, walking over to her to see her looking at her schedule on her phone.

“Is seven-thirty okay? It works for me a bit better. I have a meeting at six-thirty and I don’t know how long it will run.”

“That’s fine. Let me give you my number.” I say, taking the phone from her and putting my number in it, I make sure I call myself so I then have hers as well. “There. I’ll text you my address and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” She smiles.

 

-Kat POV-

“How do I look?” I ask as Jane and Sutton sit on their couch in front of me.

“You’re just having dinner with a friend, why do you care what you look like?” Sutton teases.

“I don’t want to look horrible regardless.”

“You look great.” Jane chimes, glancing up from her laptop as she continued assisting the keyboard.

“Thank you, Tiny Jane.” I chime, “Okay, I’ll see you guys later.” Once outside I waved down a cab and give the driver the address, soon realizing Adena lives in the neighborhood between Jane’s apartment and my own. I take a deep breath before pressing the button for her apartment. I stand there for a moment and the door opens, Adena stands there with a small smile on her face.

“Hello, Kat.” She chimes pulling me in for a hug. “Come on, let’s get out of the cold,” she adds, opening the door and leading the way up to her apartment. We walk through the door and I look around to see the space is very much what I would expect from Adena. Photos from different places hung in the walls.

“Did you take these?” I ask as I become transfixed on the photo.

“Yes, I traveled a lot before coming to the states. Wherever I went, I wanted to make sure I captured something about the country that I never wanted to forget.” Adena explains, taking off her headscarf, folding it and putting it on a shelf by the door. “Come sit, I have more around that aren’t trapped in the doorway.” She smiles looking at me in the mirror and putting her hands on my shoulders. We look at each other for a moment. Time seems to stop around us as we continue to stare at each other. “What are you thinking?”

“I – I think I like you,” I mumble, looking up to see her smile softly. “I don’t know what it is or how to explain it, but I know that what I feel for you is something more than just being your friend,” I say, turning around in her arms, feeling as she subconsciously wraps her arms around me, something I eased into.

“I’m beginning to feel the same way,” she says in that breathy tone of hers. “And I don’t think you should shy from it, but I also don’t want you to feel like you should feel this way.”

“I know, I just… there was something about you from the moment I met you that I knew you were going to be a radical shift in my life. That sounds so stupid.”

“It doesn’t sound stupid,” Adena says, tucking her hair behind her ear, it was the first time I say her hair flowing and free, she always wore a hijab that didn’t expose any of her hair, except for the rare occasions where she did just wear it loose over her head. “But it’s going to be a stupid situation if I invited you here for dinner and it burns so, follow me to the kitchen please.” She chimes, taking my hand in hers and pulling me towards the small kitchen space. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Wine, if you have it.”

“I do. Is white okay?” She asks, walking over to the fridge.  
“Perfect,” I say, sitting down at the counter watching as she pours me a glass. “Are you not having any?”

“I don’t drink.” She chimes. “I just have it for when I have guests.”

“Do you have guests often?” I ask, “sorry, you don’t have to answer that, it isn’t my business.” I add, backpedaling my question.

“Not as often as you may think, but occasionally.” Adena shrugs as she stirs a pot on the stove.

“Do you need any help?” I ask, walking over to her and leaning against the counter.

“No, it should be done soon. We’re going to sit around the coffee table.” She says, a small smile playing on her face. “It’s a cultural thing.”

“I get that, I’m open to experiencing new cultures.”

“Good, because my culture is completely different from western cultures.”

“I understand.” I smile, taking a sip from my glass.

“Go sit, I’ll be right over,” Adena smiles, nodding in the direction of ten living room. “Have to ever tried Middle Eastern food before?”

“No, I haven’t.” Adena begins to explain the different dishes. The evening is filled with several new experiences for me, one was the cuisine I was introduced to, the other was seeing the world through the eyes of Adena’s travels, and the final thing was the feeling of warmth I thought I would never feel when talking to someone who I feel I genuinely have a connection with. Conversation flows effortlessly, there were no skipped beats, no awkwardness. “What made you want to leave home so young?” I ask, resting my head in my hand as I lean in the couch cushion, Adena mirroring my movements.

“Oppression. The government back home was not an acceptable one, nor was it an understanding one. And I felt the only way to get what I wanted out of life and having a fulfilling one was to leave the Middle East.” She says, a somber tone to her voice and the light from her eyes dimmed slightly. “Is rated out in Europe, it was the easiest place to start. Then as I saved money I started going to places like South Africa, I fell in love with portrait photography when I was in Johannesburg, and Cape Town. In between I would travel back home to see my mother, and bring her something from my travels.”

“You have a good relationship with your mother?”

“Yes, I talk to her every day. I miss her a lot.” Adena says, casting her eyes down for a moment, blinking the noticeable tears that started to form. “Sorry.” She says, shaking her head with a sad smile.

“Don’t be sorry.” I say, reaching out and placing my hand on hers. “I understand missing your parents, I miss mine every day too, but I’m just a few states away, not an entire ocean.”

“Some days are harder than others, being away from her, but she understands I’m doing what I love and working at something I wouldn’t have been able to do if I stayed in Iran.”

“At least she’s understanding and supportive.” I say, not really knowing what would be proper to tell her in this moment.

“Are your parents understanding and supportive?” She asks, clearly wanting the focus to shift off of her.

“My parents are psychiatrists. They were supportive when I told them I wanted to study something that wasn’t in the medical field to some degree. I wanted to study communications and get into the world of media, move to the big city and just take the world by what it has to offer.”

“What was that like though, having two parents who were psychiatrists?”

“Lonely, they were always working, even though my mother had her practice at home, she was never present. She was always in her office with patients. The only time we would come together as a family was dinner time and occasionally Sunday brunches. I wish I would have had a sibling growing up, but I’m happy I was able to find that in Jane and Sutton.”

“Jane said that about you earlier.” Adena chimes, a small smile playing in her lips.

“Oh really?”

“She said you are like the sister she never had. You must be an amazing friend to her.”

“I feel like I am. I think being raised the way I was, with the parents I have I was taught to look at people a little differently, and that giving time to just learn where someone has been is something that you shouldn’t take for granted.”

“What is it called in America… don’t judge a book by its cover?”

“Pretty much.” I say with a chuckle.

“You have a beautiful smile, Kat.” Adena whispers, looking at me with adoration in here eyes.

“Thank you.” I whisper, looking away from her to hide the blush I feel creeping up my cheeks.

“Don’t get shy.”

“Sorry, I just… I’ve never done this before.”

“What do you mean?”

“This, you know, have dinner with someone, learn things about them. Just this hasn’t been something I thought I would ever be good at.”

“We’re friends, having dinner… it isn’t hard.” Adena says, furrowing her brow. “I mean, granted I think I like you too, but we don’t have to call this anything we don’t want to call it. I don’t want to make you feel like you have to act on how your feeling, if it’s something you’re uncomfortable with we can be friends.”

“No, I didn’t say I didn’t like this. I want to know what it’s like to have this I think.”

“Sometimes things are meant to take place when the universe feels you are ready to experience it. No matter what, you can’t fight what the universe may have planned for you. You can reject it, granted, but you shouldn’t be discouraged to try it out.” Adena explains with a small smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr at juli-with-a-chance if you have any suggestions on what you would like this to be or criticism on things you may not agree with. I’m open to everything in order to make my writing better.


	3. Chapter 3

-Kat POV-

I wake up and look at the unfamiliar ceiling and walls. I sit up, remembering that I was in Adena’s bed, it was late by the time our conversations began to come to a close, well near midnight when she decided it was only logical that I stay the night rather than trying to get home so late. I can see beyond the divider she has near the foot of the bed, allowing for the illusion of having a bedroom in her studio apartment, that Adena is kneeling on the floor, face down on what I was only able to assume was a prayer mat. I get out of bed, trying not to disturb her as I pull on my shirt I had worn last night. I walk over and lean against the side of the couch, watching as she prayers. After a moment she sits up and opens her eyes, looking over at me with a smile as she folds a corner of the mat over, she takes off the shall that was wrapped around her and begins folding it. “You don’t have to stop.”

“No, it’s okay.” She says with a smile, “how did you sleep?”

“Good.” I chime.

“Would you like a coffee?”

“Please,” I say, following her towards the kitchen. She pressed down in her French press before grabbing two mugs from the counter, placing them in front of us. “Do you pray often?”

“I try to pray five times in the day like I should, but I get lazy like every human and I don’t always do all five. I try to remember to at least pray in the morning and when I get home from work. Are you religious?”

“I don’t know. I think spiritual would be a better way of putting it for me. I wasn’t brought up in a strict religious upbringing, but as I got older I realized I needed some kind of spirituality.”

“That’s interesting.”

“Are you judging me?”

“Never, Kat I want you to know that whenever you’re with me there will be a full lack of judgment from me,” Adena says, reaching over and taking my hand I hers.

“Okay,” I say quietly, looking down at our hands.

* * *

“What happened to you last night?” Sutton asks as I walk over to where she was standing to wait for an elevator.

“Where’s Jane?”

“Something about interviewing someone for an article, she’ll be in later. So.”

“We had dinner and I got to know her very well.”

“Very well?” She says in a teasingly sensual tone as she wiggles her eyebrows.

“Shut up,” I say, shoving her arm. “We talked over dinner and I got to know her more, that’s it and that’s all.”

“You’re not telling me something.”

“I told her that I like her.”

“Are you in middle school? What did you do after that?”

“Nothing.”

“You didn’t even kiss her?” Sutton asks, slightly confused as I shake my head. “Do you want to?”

“I think I do.” I nod, looking over to see Sutton light up.

“Awe. Honey.” She says throwing her arms around me. “Whatever is going on and whatever you do. I support it.”

“Thanks,” I say as we step out of the elevator.

“I’ll see you later. I have a shoot to get to.”

“Please don’t make things weird with Adena, in fact, don’t talk to her.”

“I won’t interrogate her about what happened last night.”

“Sutton, I swear.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

 

-Adena POV-

I’m sat at my computer in the corner of the studio editing photos and drinking coffee when I feel someone’s hand on my shoulder, I turn and smile when I see Kat standing over me. “Hey, you,” I say, placing my hand over hers and giving it a squeeze. “How are you?”

“Good, I came down here to see if you wanted to get lunch.”

“I would love to, but I have to finish editing these and get them up to Oliver,” I say, watching Kat’s face fall a bit.

“It’s okay. I understand having to work through lunch.”

“I would like to see you some time after work though if you want to,” I say, resting my head in my hand.

“I would like that.” Kat smiles.

“Come find me after work?” I say quietly, lacing our fingers together. “I’ll most likely be in here.”

“Okay.” She nods, her curls bouncing around her face. “I’ll text you when I’m off.”

“Okay.” I smile. I watch as she hesitates for a moment, almost as if she’s holding back something. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry I was just thinking.”

“Kat! Sutton said I would find you down here.” Jane chimes as she walks over towards us. “Hi Adena, do you mind if I steal her from you?” She asks, wrapping her hand around Kat’s bicep.

“No problem. I have to get back to work anyway.” I say, letting go of Kat’s hand, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Jane, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Bye Adena.” She says as she’s being dragged away by Jane.

“Tell me everything,” Jane says, not as quiet as I can assume she thought, cause me to chuckle to myself.

 

-Kat POV-

“You can stop dragging me, please,” I say, tugging my arm away as we walk towards the elevator.

“What happened last night?”

“Sutton didn’t already tell you?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“I’m shocked.” I say, looking over to see Jane waiting patiently, “she cooked dinner and we talked for hours, it ended up getting late and she insisted that I stay the night.”

“Nothing else happened?”

“No, there was nothing else.”

“I told her that I like her, and she said she likes me too.” I shrug.

“Are you handling that okay?”

“My sexual identity has been a questionable state for my entire life apparently.”

“You know that Sutton and I support you no matter what,” Jane says, pulling me into a hug.

“I know,” I say, holding her a little tighter for a moment before letting her go.

“I love you. I’ll see you later.”

“Love you too,” I smile as Jane walks away. The rest of the day went by smoothly, as I walk out of the office space and over to the elevators where I see Adena sitting on the couch in the lobby reading through the latest issue of Scarlet. She looks up and smiles, putting the magazine back on the coffee table in front of her.

“Kat.” She coos, walking over to me and pulling me into a hug.

“I was going to call you.”

“I was finished a little early and decided to come up here and wait rather than waiting for your phone call. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. W-would you like to come by my place for a little while?”

“I would like that.” Adena smiles, taking my hand in hers as we walk towards the elevators. The ride in the cab back to Brooklyn was held mostly on silence, Adena was on her phone answering emails and texts as was I. “You don’t live that far from me.” Adena points us when she realizes where the cab was stopped to let us out. I pay the driver and climb out of the cab with Adena close behind.

“No, I realized you’re in the neighborhood between Jane’s place and mine.”

“Good to know.” She chimes. We make our way up to my apartment.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I say, opening the door to my apartment and walking in, I take off my coat, hanging it up on the hook by the door, and putting my bag down. I look over to see Adena taking off her coat and unwrapping her headscarf so that it rests loosely around her short black hair. I walk further into my apartment and up the stairs to the small loft area used as an open closet. I take off my heels and quickly change into something comfortable as Adena looks around my apartment. I go back downstairs and into the bathroom washing my face and putting my glasses on. “Would you like anything?”

“No, thank you.” Adena smiles, walking over and sitting on the couch. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

“When I’m home, occasionally at work if I wake up late and forget to put my contacts in,” I say, walking down and sitting beside her. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Good, busy as always. I have to go out to The Hamptons this weekend, there’s some kind of event that Oliver and Jacqueline would like me to get photos of for the magazine.”

“I have to go to that too, it’s a big thing for Scarlet that takes place in the fall.”

“I assumed you’d be there.” She says with a smile. “Our followers can’t be left out of that one.”

“No, they can’t,” I say with a laugh. We fall into a comfortable silence, I watch as she studies my face with a small smile on hers, the smirk is something that seems it may never go away when she and I are together.

“What are you thinking?” Adena asks quietly, rather than telling her, the only thing I chose to do was lean in, I feel her hands at the nape of my neck, kissing me in the same moment as I kiss her. It was gentle, very different than kissing a guy, and in a very good way. She pulls away for a moment, resting her forehead against mine. “So I didn’t read that wrong?” She chuckles, causing me to do the same and I kissing her one more time.

“No, you didn’t,” I say through a laugh.

“Good.” She smiles leaning in and kissing me again.

* * *

“What happened to you last night?” Jane asks as I walk into the office the next day. “You didn’t answer your phone and you neglected to call me like you said you would.”

“Yeah, you fell off the grid for a moment, is everything okay?” Sutton chimes. I look at the confused look on both of their faces for a few moments, smiling like an idiot as they grow more confused.

“I made out with Adena last night.” I chime, causing both. If them to freak out as they drag me off into the fashion closet.

“What happened?” Jane chimes.

“She and I made plans to get together after work, they weren’t like set in stone it was more I was going to call her when I got off, anyway, she was waiting for me when I was leaving, long story short we went back to my place and basically kissed all night.”

“So you kissed a girl.” Jane states.

“And you liked it.” Sutton chimes.

“And I liked it.” I smile as they both then give me a hug.

“I’m happy for you.”

“Me too,” Sutton says. “I have to go before Oliver realizes I’m missing. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I say as she walks out of the closet, grabbing something to make it seem as if she as busy working.

“Are you happy?” Jane asks, taking my hand in hers.

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s all the matters.” She says, hugging me again. As we make our way back into the office, Jaqueline is there to summon us to hers.

“Are you girls ready for this weekend?” She asks as she sits behind her desk.  
“Yes, ma’am. I’m making sure our fans are aware of what’s taking place and that they will be with us through the entire thing.” I say, holding up my phone. “Some of them have already started donating to the charity, which is great. Even if we have a younger demographic, it’s nice to know they are doing something to help out as best as they can.”

“Wonderful, and Jane I want you to write the article about everything that took place. Our new photographer Adena El-Amin will be there taking photos for the article so you can collaborate with her if you see it fit.” Jaqueline says with a polite smile. “You girls can go.”

“Adena is taking the photos?”

“Yeah.”

“Won’t you get in trouble if it comes out that you two are dating, I mean you know what could have happened if Sutton was caught with Richard.”

“Adena and I aren’t flaunting anything, we are keeping our relationship private and taking it one step at a time. Nothing is going to happen or be found out.” I say. “Besides, she is still under a temporary contract. She may not even have a permanent position any time soon.”

“As long as you have it under control.”

“I do, we do.” I say.


	4. Chapter 4

-Kat POV-

I walk through the beach front home that was going to be where, Sutton, Jane, and myself were going to be staying in Amagansett, a neighborhood in East Hampton where the charity event was being held. “Is it only us?” Sutton asks, flopping down on the couch.

“It should be, I think everyone else says staying at Jaqueline’s or with friends.” Jane chimes.

“Why weren’t we asked to stay with Jaqueline?” Sutton asks.

“I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to spend the weekend in my boss’s vacation home. I love her to death and all, but the thought of it makes me cringe, I’d rather it be paid for that we’re staying here.” I say, walking down the short hallway and picking a room. “At least you two get to have your own rooms for a change.”

“We have our own rooms,” Jane says, following me down the hall.

“No, you have the room, my bed is in the living room,” Sutton says, opening the doors and picking the room she likes. “In that case, I get the one with the view.” She chimes, picking the room that faced the ocean.

“Go for it,” Jane says, waving Sutton off. “Just don’t complain when the sun wakes you up and makes your hangover headache worse.”

“Blackout curtains bitches!” She calls out, causing Jane and I go look in the room and see where she was pushing a button that brought down the curtains.

“Wonderful,” Jane says, rolling her eyes as Sutton does something close to a victory dance.

“Hello!” I hear a familiar voice call out, causing me to get a little more excited than I should have. I turn and look back down the hall towards the living room to see Adena standing in the doorway, she looks over, catching my eye and she smiles. “Hi, Kat.” She chimes, walking over and wrapping me in a hug. “I didn’t know I was going to be staying in the same house as you. Hello Sutton, hello Jane.” She adds when she sees the other girls.

“Hey.” Jane and Sutton chime in unison.

“Can I just,” Sutton begins, raising her hand a bit, “if you two are going to stay in the same room, which in this case is the only option, I ask that you keep all sex-related activities to a low volume.”

“Sutton!” I chastise looking over to see Adena trying to hide her face in my shoulder.

“I’m just saying.”

“The same goes for you if you bring someone home. Seeing as you’d be the only person having sex this entire weekend.”

“Valid point.” She nods, going back into the room she claimed as her own. I watch as Jane does the same, leaving Adena and me in the hallway.

“I’ll show you where you’ll be staying,” I say, feeling as she takes my hand before we walk to the last available room, which was luckily more of a master bedroom than the other two seemed to be.

“Do you mind me staying with you?” Adena asks as she sits on the bed, taking off her headscarf.

“No, I don’t.” I smile, opening my suitcase and pulling out something comfortable to change into. The four of us gathered into the living room at some point, Sutton and Jane were sat on the sofa while Adena and I sat together in one of the chairs, meant to really sit one person but Adena and I fit comfortably together regardless, we had the French doors open, allowing for a cool refreshing breeze to come in off the ocean and we sat and laughed at stories we shared.

“So that was the time Jane broke two lamps during her first, true enjoyable sexcapade,” Sutton says, a matter of factly. “And the night we discovered how thin the walls are.” She adds, raising her glass.

“I have no comment.” Adena chuckles, taking a sip of her tea.

“Whatever happened to Pinstripe?” I ask.

“He ended up being a jerk to some degree, I realized he was pretty much using me for his creative gain,” Jane says, rolling her eyes as she finished off her wine. “Anyone else want?” She asks, standing up and walking over towards the kitchen.

“It’s getting pretty late, I think I’m going to go to bed,” I say, realizing it was well near one in the morning. With that, Adena and I begin to move from where we’re sat. I take both of our cups and she goes and closes the French doors. We all say goodnight and go out separate ways, I walk into the bedroom and see Adena was in the en-suite bathroom getting ready for bed.

“Hello, Kat.” She smiles, looking at me in the mirror as I lean against the doorframe. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, tired,” I say walk in to brush my teeth. I feel Adena wrap her arms around me as I stand at the sink, I look up and smile at her as I finish brushing my teeth.

“Let’s go to bed.” She whispers in my ear, kissing the base of my neck as she takes me by the hand and leads me to the queen-sized bed. We crawl into bed together and lie down facing each other. Adena smiles softly, as she reaches up and caresses my cheek as she leans in to kiss me. “Are you excited for tomorrow?”

“It’s work,” I say through a yawn. “All of these events are fun when the work part is over. You’re probably going to be working the entire time.”

“I know, but at least I get to see you.” She smiles, kissing the tip of my nose.

“You’re adorable, do you know that?”

“So are you.” She says, kissing me softly.

* * *

“Kat, we have to get up,” Adena says, her voice thick with sleep as she begins to stir in my arms. I pick up my head for a moment, opening my eyes to see the back of Adena’s head. I pull her close to me, kissing her shoulder.

“Five more minutes,” I mumble into the back of her neck.

“Okay,” she hums, kissing my hand. After a few minutes, I feel the Adena turn in my arms, peppering my face with kisses. I open one eye to see her smiling at me.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, or I would be very annoyed with you right now,” I say, turning to lay in my back and pulling her on top of me, causing Adena to giggle.

“Hey lovebirds! Jane is making breakfast!” Sutton says, knocking on the door loudly.

“We’ll be out in a minute,” I call out, looking you at Adena. “Would you like to join my friends for breakfast?” I whisper, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I don’t usually have breakfast, but I will have coffee.” She chimes, kissing me before she rolls off of me. “What’s wrong?” She coos.

“Nothing.”

“Then get that pout off of your face.”

“I don’t want to,” I call out as she walks into the bathroom.

“Come here,” Adena calls out and I follow her directive, walking into the bathroom and wrapping my arms around her from behind as she stands at the sink, brushing her teeth. She rests her free hand over mine as I kiss the column of her neck. I feel the vibration of her laughter as I kiss a sensitive spot just behind her ear. I smile, kissing her there again. “Kat.” She whines as she finishes brushing her teeth.

“What?”

“We have to go before your friends come in here looking for us. Wash up and let’s go.”

“I don’t care what they want. I would rather spend the morning with you.”

“We can spend tomorrow morning together, we’ll be able to sleep in.”

“You make a fair point,” I say, kissing her quickly and doing what I am told. We walk into the kitchen to see Jane and Sutton in the kitchen singing and dancing to the Spice Girls, as soon as I round the corner I jump between them and start singing and dancing with them, causing Adena to sit back and laugh.   
  
“I adore all three of you.” Adena chimes from where she was sat at the counter.

“Why thank you.” Sutton bows.

“What would you like Adena?” Jane asks as she continues to make French toast.

“Just a coffee please. I’m not really a breakfast person.”

“No problem.” Jane chimes, fixing her a cup of coffee.

“Tiny Jane will make an amazing wife one day.” I tease, fixing myself a cup of coffee and sitting down beside Adena.

“Tiny Jane will probably be the only one in the group to be a wife one day,” Sutton says, taking a bite from a piece of French toast.

“Yeah really.” I chime, looking over to see Adena stare at me curiously. “What?

“Nothing.” She smiles, shaking her head as she takes a sip of coffee. “I don’t know about you girls, but I am going to start getting ready, I’m going to have a quick shower,” Adena announces, taking her mug and making her way back towards the bedroom.

“So did anything happen last night?” Sutton asks, resting her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands, smiling as she wiggles her eyebrows.

“Nothing happened.” I say, rolling my eyes, “we just slept.”

“Really?”  
“Yes.” I say, “we just went to bed, I mean yeah we kissed, but that was it. Nothing more.”

“So… you didn’t sleep with her?”

“No, Sutton. I didn’t.”

“I’m proud of you.” She nods, resulting in Jane and me to both roll our eyes at her. “What, she’s hot, I mean yeah I’ve had my share of ladies in my day, but still. I wouldn’t be able to resist like you.”

“You have the libido of a fourteen-year-old boy, but can we just backpedal on the fact that you just said you’ve slept with women?” Jane chimes.

“A few times, every girl has the right of passage to experiment in college.” Sutton shrugs.

“We’ll dive deeper into those details later, but Adena is right, we should start getting ready, we have to be there by two-thirty.” I get up from the counter, grabbing a piece of French toast and making my way towards the bedroom I was staying in, I walk in to see the door to the bathroom was closed and the shower was still running. I sit on the edge of the bed, checking my phone and sending out a few tweets when I hear the bathroom door open, I look up to see Adena walking into the room wrapped in a towel. I feel my throat go dry as I stare at her.

“Kat,” Adena says, a knowing smirk playing in her face. “Are you okay?”

“Uhm, yeah. I’m okay, I just… I should… shower.” I stammer, much to Adena’s amusement as I get up and walk towards the shower, not before she stops and kisses me first. “Shower, me,” I mumble, causing Adena to laugh lightly against my lips.

“You’re cute when you’re flustered.” She smiles, kissing me quickly, “go shower.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I chime, kissing her again before making my way into the bathroom.

* * *

“Are you just going to get drunk and stare at Adena the entire time?” Sutton asks in my ear. She and I were standing under a tent across the year from where Adena was taking pictures of some celebrities that I could care less about.

“Sounds like a plan, I put out enough tweets and pictures for the digital circuit.” I shrug, sipping on my rosé.

“You’ve been weird since we left the house.”

“She may or may not have teased me this morning. I went into the room to get ready, and she came out in a towel and… yeah.” I say, downing the rest of my wine.

“Now you’re all sexually frustrated at work.” Sutton teases.

“You could say that.”

“She’s coming over here.” Sutton gestures, I turn to see Adena walking towards us with a smile on her face and a camera hanging from each shoulder.

“Hello, girls. Keeping the bar company?”

“Always.” I say, holding up my glass, “do you want anything?”

“Water is fine, thank you.”

“You don’t drink?” Sutton asks a bit forward.

“Religious convictions,” Adena says simply, moving the subject. “Are you two enjoying it?”

“As much as we can, there isn’t much for us to do. I already put in all the work I wanted to put in.” I say, handing Adena her water.

“Thank you.”

“You two are so cute.” Sutton coos.

“I just handed her a glass of water.”

“Still cute.” I roll my eyes at Sutton and watch as Adena looks around before kissing me on the cheek. “Cute.” Sutton exaggerates.

“I am going to hit you.”

“Kat, stop,” Adena warns. “Be nice.”

“Yeah, be nice,” Sutton says with a grin. I smile, rolling my eyes at Sutton as I sneak another kiss with Adena.

“Awe you guys are so cute.” Jane coos as she walks over towards us.

“So we’ve been told.” I sigh, looking at Adena smile.

“I have to get back to work, I’ll see you soon,” Adena says giving my hand a small squeeze before she walks away, taking pictures as she goes. I didn’t see Adena again until we got home, she came into the bedroom well after I was already changed and in bed. “Kat?” She asks, standing in the doorway.

“I’m not asleep if that’s what you’re trying to figure out,” I say, poking my head out from under the cover. “I just have a headache and the room is spinning a bit.”

“Awe, Sweetheart.” She coos, sitting down on the edge if the bed next to me. I turn to face her better, whining a bit. She smiles, running her fingers through my hair. “Would you mind taking a walk?”

“Room is spinning.”

“So, I’ll hold you together, it’s just such a beautiful night and the moon is illuminating everything, I would like for us to take a walk.”

“You want to walk in the beach with me? How romantic.” I tease as Adena leans in and kisses me softly.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yeah.”

“I just want to change into something a bit more comfortable, and I feel overdressed seeing as you’re already in sweats.”

“Take your time, the room is starting to spin less, too much rosé.”

“Poor baby. I’ll be right back.” Five minutes later, Adena was walking out of the bathroom in sweatpants and a hoodie as I sat up in bed.

“I never thought I’d see you in sweatpants and a hoodie,” I say, getting out of bed and pulling on my shoes. I walk over to Adena, she takes my hand in hers, opening the door in our room that opens to outside, revealing a path that leads to the coast. We walk along the shoreline hand in hand and in silence, for the most part, comfortable silence. After a few moments, Adena stops is in our tracks and stands in front of me, taking my face in her hands and kissing me passionately. I place my hand in her waist, pulling her as close as I can.

“Kat.” Adena groans as I start to kiss her neck. “Don’t start something we aren’t going to finish.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask.

“We’re still in the early stages of whatever this is, and I don’t want you to feel like you should do something just because I want to, or that you should do something just because. I want you to be ready for whatever this is.” Adena says nervously, something that was a rare occurrence.

“Adena, I don’t know what I’m doing, or how to not make myself look like a total idiot, but I know that what I feel for you is real and if this step is one that you too want to take, then I think we should take it. I don’t care how early we are into this, I know that what I feel for you is real and I don’t want to lose this.” I say, taking her hands in mine and lacing our fingers together.

“Maybe we can reevaluate this situation when we’re back in Brooklyn and you don’t smell like you’ve had an entire vineyard’s worth of wine.” She says with a chuckle as she caresses my cheek.

“Fair enough.” I sigh, kissing her cheek before we start to make our way back to the house.

 


	5. Chapter 5

-Adena POV-

I make my way up to the loft that was starting to feel more and more like home over the course of a couple of months of being with Kat. Once at the door I knock, waiting patiently for her to open the door with her adorable smile like she always does. “Hey.” She chimes, pulling me in for a kiss before I even step into the threshold. “I missed you.”

“I can see that,” I comment, taking off my coat and hijab. “I missed you too.” I smile, kissing her again. I watch as she walks over and fixes me a cup of tea while I go and sit on the couch.

“Can we talk about something?” She asks, handing me a cup and sitting beside me.

“Of course.” I turn to face her, watching as she rests her head against the back of the couch. Taking my hand in hers and lacing our fingers together. “You look scared.”

“I am, a little. I don’t know what you’re going to say or how you’re going to feel about it. I just, I wanted to ask you if you would want to move in with me. I know it sounds carat and we’ve only been together for like what three months, and that isn’t long at all. But I know that this feels right in asking you. I feel like I wouldn’t want it any other way and - ” I cut her off by kissing her, mostly to save her from the frantic mumbling but also to calm her down a bit.

“Kat,” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers. “We have time to discuss this to make sure it feels right, but I know that in this moment of you asking me, I would agree to it. But I think we should wait a little bit. I think spending time together for extended periods would be a better idea at the moment than full on moving in right now.”

“Okay.” She nods with a small smile, leaning in to kiss me again.

“But at least you brought it up and we can discuss it.”

“Yeah, I was nervous about it all day.”

“Don’t be nervous with me when it comes to talking about things, I’ve told you, Kat. No judgment on any front, I mean it.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get nervous.”

“I know.” I smile, caressing her cheek. “If we are confessions thing I would like to say something.”

“Now you look nervous,” she chimes, leaning in to kiss me sweetly.

“I love you,” I whisper against her lips, causing her breath to catch slightly. She pulls back, looking at me with adoration in her eyes like always. “I love you, Kat.”

“I love you too.” She whispers, kissing me again.

 

-Kat POV-

I walk out of the elevator in a rush, it was Adena’s day off and she decided to spend the night, which meant she decided to tease me into being late to work this morning. “Where have you been?” Jane asks as I rush over towards my desk.

“I, uhm, overslept.”

“You don’t even oversleep on the weekend. Where were you?” Sutton chimes, appearing out of nowhere.

“Adena spent the night and well…”

“Ooh, la la.” Sutton chimes, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Yeah, I’ll give you a pass on that one.” I chime, not being able to stop smiling. “We uhm, I told her that I love her after she told me of course.”

“Awe. That’s cute,” Jane coos.

“It was.” I nod.

“You’re so in love, it’s gross,” Sutton says.

“Red! I need you over here ASAP!” Oliver calls from across the office.

“Gotta go.”

“So you told her you love her?”

“Yeah, and I feel like it just added to our dynamic now like I never thought I would love someone the way I love her.”

“I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Jane.” I smile as she pulls me in for a hug. The two of us part ways and get to work, I had a few meetings to get to that morning and by the time I was able to have a moment to myself I realized it was well into the afternoon and nearly time to get ready to go home. I sigh, rubbing my eyes as I shut off the computer and get ready to go home. I make my way down to the lobby of the building when I see a familiar maroon flash just at the doorway I smile when I see Adena walking towards me with a smirk playing in her face.

“Kat.” She coos, pulling me into a hug and a kiss. “How was your day?”

“Long, I have to find someone to hire for the social media department. It was a lot of meetings and reading resumés today.”

“Do you just want to go home?”

“Yes, are you staying over again?”

“I actually have some news for you.”

“Okay.” I smile, getting into one of the cabs at the curb. We climb into the back and I give the driver my address as Adena pulls at my hand, playing with my fingers. “What is your news?”

“So, I don’t know about you, but I have told my mother a lot about you and she was thrilled I found someone who can take care of her little girl,” Adena says, rolling her eyes a bit. “But that is just have she feels seeing as I haven’t been home in almost ten years and I’ve been bouncing about. I think she’s happy I’ve finally decided to settle somewhere, anyway, long story short. My mother is coming to visit next week.”

“And she wants to meet me?”

“She would like to, yes.”

“I don’t know anything about your mom.”

“Well, once I left Iran when I was young, she left not long after I did. She chose to move to England to be with her sisters. She likes it there, anything is better than where I grew up. But she finally decided that she wants to come and visit me.”

“What is she like?” I ask, turning to face her a little better seeing as we were hitting traffic and the ride was going to be a bit longer than anticipated.”

“She is the kindest woman you will ever meet. I know people say that about their mother’s no matter what, but she really is the sweetest woman in the entire world. She is nonjudgmental, loving, and warm. When I told her about you she was so excited that I met such a strong and hardworking woman.” Adena smiles, lifting my hand to her mouth to kiss the back of it. “I showed her a picture of you and she couldn’t believe you were so beautiful and teased me about landing someone hot like you.”

“Well. I mean.” I tease, causing Adena to roll her eyes at me. “When is she supposed to be coming?”

“She’s supposed to be arriving, Friday.”

“She’s leaving just before Christmas?”

“Yes, why?”

“We haven’t discussed it, but I go back home for Christmas to see my family and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me, but we can discuss that after she leaves.”

“So for the next two weeks, we’re going to be in meet the parents’ mode?”

“It seems like it, but I’m not objecting to it.” I smile, caressing her cheek and pulling her in for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She smiles, kissing me again. “So for the most of next week, I’m going to be at my place with my mom, and I won’t be working.”

“That’s perfectly fine, I will see you when we have the chance to. Seeing your mother is more important than seeing me. I’ll still be here when she leaves.”

“You are the most understanding person I’ve ever met.”

“Keep talking me up, you know I love an ego boost,” I say, causing Adena to laugh.

“You are terrible, Kat Edison.”

“But you love me, Adena El-Amin.”

“I do.” She smiles, kissing me again.

* * *

The week seemed to fly by as Adena and I were standing at baggage claim waiting for her mother’s flight to arrive. “When is her flight supposed to land?”

“It should have landed by now,” she says, trying to look over the people walking through the area. “Oh wait, I see her.” Adena lights up. “Momma!” She says, waving towards an older woman that looked a lot like Adena, except for the fact that the woman had salt and pepper colored hair poking out of her hijab, and glasses.

“Oh, Adena,” the woman coos, holding Adena as close to her as she possibly can. “You look radiant.” She adds as they walk towards me.

“Momma, this is my girlfriend, Kat. Kat this is my mother, Padma.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. El-Amin,” I say, extending my hand for her to shake, instead, she pulls me in for a warm hug.

“Please, call me Padma.” She says in my ear. “My daughter has told me so much about you, Kat.”

“Come on, Momma. You’ve been traveling all day, I would like to show you where I live, take you home.”

“Would you be joining us, Kat? I would like to get to know you more.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to be rude though, if you would rather be with Adena and get settled I understand,” I say, looking between Adena and her mother. Adena looks at me with a small smile, nodding her head for me to come by.

“Nonsense, I have time to adjust. Why don’t we go back to Adena’s and I’ll cook dinner.”

“Why don’t we have the full New York experience and order in tonight? That way we can just relax.” Adena says as we walk over to the carousel to get her mother’s suitcase.

“Okay. Okay.” Padma says, licking her arm with mine. “So, Kat, I want to hear more about you.”

“What would you like to know?”

“What do your parents do?”

“Mother, can you wait until we’re home to start interrogating my girlfriend?” Adena says, pulling the suitcase behind her as she meets us by the door, soon after the tree of us are climbing into the back of a cab for the fairly short drive to Adena apartment form JFK.

“Okay, we are here. Now, Kat what is it your parents do?” Padma asks as we walk through the door of Adena’s apartment. I couldn’t help but laugh at her mother’s persistence.

“My parents are both psychiatrists. They live in Connecticut.” I say with a smile as I help her out of her coat before taking off my own.

“That seems lovely,” she says, walking further into the apartment. I turn to face Adena who is looking at me with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry she can be a little overbearing.”

“It’s okay. I like her already.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her softly. “She seems like a lovely woman,” I whisper, kissing her again.

“Adena?”

“Yes, Momma?” Adena says, walking past me and towards where her mother was standing.

“Did you take this photo?” She asks, pointing it a black and white print of the Statue of Liberty.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have it hanging in here. Every photo was taken by me.” Adena says, a hint of pride in her voice. “I took it during the first week I moved here, I took the ferry over there and took it while on the boat.”

“Do you still have it?”

“Yes, it should be on my computer.”

“I would like a copy, please.”

“Of course, Momma. Let me know whatever you want, I will make copies of them.” Adena smiles.

“Thank you, Love.” Padma smiles, kissing Adena’s cheek.

“Your welcome, what would you like to eat?”

“Whatever you girls want.”

“Do you want to order from that middle eastern place we like?” I ask as Adena turns to face me. “It would at least be the food your mother would like.”

“So considerate. Such a wonderful young woman.” Padma chimes. I smile as Adena kisses my cheek before going to call in for our dinner. The night went by with her mother asking a lot of questions and Adena and I giving her a lot of answers. She was a very progressive woman, not what I would expect considering where she was born and raised and where Adena was raised for so many years. She was accepting of her daughter’s sexuality and has been from the day Adena came out to her, she was also open to the fact that Adena wanted to travel the world and get into a creative career, ‘I would rather have her do something she loved doing than doing something just to please me. I knew she wasn’t going to be a doctor or a lawyer, but that didn’t matter to me as long as she was happy,” her mother had said, wrapping her arm around Adena’s shoulders. After cleaning up from dinner, Padma decided it was time to go to bed, she then made herself comfortable in Adena’s bed, telling me goodnight and that she would see me tomorrow, with that, I decided it was time to go. Adena walked me out, and we stood downstairs on the sidewalk, holding each other.

“I hope she wasn’t too forward.” Adena apologizes on her mother’s behalf.

“She’s a lovely woman, and very inquisitive. I see where you get it from.” I tease, laughing as Adena shoves me playfully.

“Ha, ha.” She says, kissing me softly. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“I know, but the week will fly by and your mother will be going home before you know it.”

“I know, but it will be a long week with the fact that I won’t be seeing you all that much,” she whines.

“I’ll come by after work. You know you’ll be able to see me.”

“I just want you to myself.”

“You’re so selfish.” I teased, leaning in to kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She whispers.

* * *

“Look who’s able to join us for breakfast before work.” Sutton chimes as I stand in the doorway with a bag of bagels.

“Oh hush,” I say, pushing past her. “Here.” I hand her the bag and take off my coat.

“How was your night without your love?” Sutton teases.

“Lonely, you forget how weird it is to sleep alone when you’re used to having someone there.”

“Ew, it’s too early to hear the sugar-coated love affair you’re in,” Sutton says.

“How was meeting Adena’s mom?” Jane asks, walking in from her bedroom.

“Good. She’s is such a nice woman. I can see where a lot of Adena’s qualities come from.”

“Did she like you?”

“From the moment she got off of the plane, she loved me.”

“That’s good,” Sutton chimes. “We’re happy for you.”

“Thanks, guys.”

“What’s it going to be like when your parents me her, do you think?”

“I don’t know, but I’m bringing her home with me at Christmas so we’ll see what happens, I mean they know of her, they know I’m crazy about her. I don’t see there being an issue when it comes to getting to know her.”

“Best of luck then when that happens, but I know for a fact they are going to love her.” Jane chimes, “we have to get to work.”

“It’s going to be the first time in weeks that you’ll be on time, Kat,” Sutton teases.

“At least I won’t have to dodge Jaqueline today.” I chuckle as we all walk out of the apartment. Work was the same routine as it always is. Something about it was starting to get boring but then I remind myself it was something that I’ve been wanting to do since I was a little girl and it helps get me through the day.

“Hey.” I hear Adena whisper in my ear and wrap her arms around my shoulder as I’m sat at my desk.

“What are you doing here?”

“My mother neglected to tell me she has a few friends that are here from England and she decided she wanted to get together with them for lunch. So I came to see if you’d come to have lunch with me.”

“Of course,” I chime, getting up from my desk and grabbing my coat. I follow Adena to the elevators, trying hard to keep my hands to myself seeing as it wasn’t public knowledge that we are more than just ‘affectionate friends’. Once the doors of the elevator close, Adena pulls me by the hips and begins kissing me. I laugh at her forwardness, something like that was very unlike her.

“I missed you this morning,” she says, comprising herself a bit.

“I missed you this morning, too. It was odd being here on time.”

“I could imagine.”

“Is your mom settling in well?” I ask as we exit the elevator and make our way outside.

“Yes, we went for breakfast this morning. I showed her the Brooklyn bridge, seeing as it was something she wanted to see, and then she told me she was meeting up with friends after she got a text from them. I did not even know she had a cellphone.” Adena states and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“She is a twenty-first-century woman,” I chime as Adena grabs my arm, linking it with hers.

“That she is.”

“What would you like for lunch?”

“Can we just sit together for a little while, I’m not really hungry and I would just like to sit with you.”

“Okay.” I nod, we make our way towards the courtyard of the building, finding a bench and sitting down, Adena immediately curling into my side. I wrap my arm around her, kissing the side of her head. “Something is bothering you and you’re going to have to tell me about it.” I say, causing Adena to look up at me with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not the only one who can read people.”

“I see that,” she say, sitting up straight, “I just, I didn’t think I would miss you as much as I did this morning, waking up without you was something that really upset me. I know I said we should just think about it and all, but maybe moving in will be a good thing. Us living together, and not having to choose whose place to stay at, it seems like it would be nice. Of course we’ll wait until my mother leaves and we come back from your parents’.” She says, causing me to light up.

“You’re going to come home with me?”

“Of course. I may not celebrate the holiday, but I would love to see where you grew up and your family.”

“Have I mentioned that I love you?”

“Once or twice.” Adena nods, leaning in to kiss me. “I love you, too.” 


	6. Chapter 6

-Kat POV-

“Baby, you’re shaking,” Adena says, placing her hand on my knee as we approach our final stop on the train in Greenwich, Connecticut.

“I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t nervous.” I say, turning to see her smiling at me, “what?”

“Don’t be nervous, everything will be okay.”

“I know, but still. You’re meeting my parents. It’s kind of a big deal.”

“And you met my mother, so it is your turn to introduce me to your family.” She says, taking my hand in hers, “everything will be okay. Are you ready?” She asks as the train comes to a stop.

“As I can be.” I sigh as she leans in and kisses me. We make our way off the train and onto the platform. “Okay, I think that’s them over there,” I say, pointing to the familiar black Audi Q3.

“Everything will be okay.” Adena whispers in my ear, kissing the side of my head.

“Kat!” My mother chimes, stepping out of the SUV with open arms. “Oh, my girl, how are you?”

“Hi Mom,” I say as she holds me close.

“I’ve missed you so much.” She whispers in my ear, kissing the side of my head. She pulls back with a smile, kissing the side of my head. “And you must be Adena?” Mom asks, giving Adena a hug.

“It is very nice to meet you, Mrs. Edison.”

“Please, call me Susan.”

“Is Dad here?”

“He’s at the house, he was with a client.”

“Okay,” I say, as the three of us make our way towards the car I feel Adena take my hand in hers, lacing our fingers together.

“So how is work?” Mom asks as she pulls into the street and makes our way back home.

“Good, I was in charge of hiring a few new people before the break. They are going to start in the new year.”

“How did that go?”

“Really well, it was interesting to be on the hiring side of things, like making those decisions for the magazine,” I say with a smile.

“I’m proud of you, Sweetie,” Mom chimes, reaching over the console and patting my knee. “So, Adena, Kat tells me you’re a photographer?”

“Yes, ma’am. I actually was lucky enough to get a job at Scarlet for a little bit.”

“Do you still have the position?”

“Yes, but I was offered one a bit better. I don’t know if I am going to take it yet.”

“I told her to take it, she’ll make better money doing the type of photography she loves. Rather than photographing models that don’t move, she’ll be taking photos outside of a studio and walking around the city like she likes.” I say, turning to see Adena smiling at me.

“Well, I can see Kat is passionate about making sure you’re doing something you love,” Mom chimes, looking at Adena in the rearview mirror.

“She is a very caring woman, Susan. I think she may be the most caring woman I have ever met.” Adena smiles.

“Awe, stop it.” I tease.

“You two seem very happy together.”

“We are, Mom. Can you just promise me one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Can you and Dad not analyze us all weekend? I know you’re not going to do it, but I know Dad will.”

“I’ll tell him, I promise.” She says as we pull up to the house.

“Thank you,” I say, getting out of the car and walking over towards Adena. “Are you ready?” I whisper, taking her hands in mine.

“As I can be.” She chimes, kissing my cheek.

“My dad can seem a little, intense, but he will just be putting you in the same category as he would if I ever brought anyone else I’ve dated home. I’m his only daughter and he’s protective.”

“I understand. I’ll charm him as best as I can,” Adena says in a playful tone, causing me to kiss her.

“Girls it’s cold, you can kiss inside!” My mother calls from the porch.

“Well, you heard her.” I chimes, kissing her quickly before leading the way inside. We walk through the door and I’m greeted by the familiar smell of cinnamon, something my mother always loved and made sure the house smells like it often, especially during the holidays.

“Hello, Kat.” My dad says, walking in from the kitchen. “How are you?”

“I’m great, Dad. This is my girlfriend, Adena.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Dr. Edison,” Adena says, extending her hand for him to take.

“Please, call me Marcus, and it is wonderful to meet you Adena.”

“You both have a lovely home.” Adena chimes, looking around and becoming unusually quiet.

“Why don’t you two go upstairs and relax for a little bit, it must have been a busy day for you between working and coming up here. We’ll call you back down when we figure out what we’re doing for dinner.” Mom says with a smile.

“Okay, come on Adena.” I say, picking up our bags and leading the way to my room, “now, before we go in here, my parents kept it almost like a shrine to me. It still looks the same as it did when I moved out for college.” I say, standing in front of the door.

“So I get to see what teenage Kat was like?” Adena teases, leaning in to kiss me.

“Yes.” I sigh, opening the door and walking into the room that was still the same shade of deep violet as I remembered.

“Teenage Kat is still the same as adult Kat, just a little less refined.” She says, taking off her coat.

“I find that to be a compliment.”

“If that makes you feel better.” She teases, sitting on the side of the bed with a knowing smirk.

“You, Ms. El-Amin, are not very polite,” I say, walking towards her and standing between her legs. Adena grabs me by the waist, pulling me on top of her. I chuckle as she begins to kiss my neck when there was a knock on the door. I get off of her as my mom opens the door.

“I was just coming in to tell you that your father and I are going to order a pizza for dinner if that’s okay with you both.”

“That’s fine Mom,” I chime, walking over to my dresser to pull out something to change into as she closes the door and disappears. “Sometimes I think she forgets that I’m twenty-five and can do what I want.”

“She’s your mother, she’s always going to treat you like she’s your little girl, you saw how my mother was.”

“I guess you’re right,” I say, pulling on an old pair of Penn State sweatpants, and a tank top. “Are you changing?”

“Yeah, I just don’t know what to change into.”

“Don’t be shy, make yourself comfortable. You can even wear something you find in here of mine.”

“I feel like I do that enough at home. Although, I see this Penn State hoodie has yet to make it to Brooklyn.”

“It might now.” I laugh, kissing her quickly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” She says, pulling off her shirt and pulling the hoodie over her head.

“I caught you downstairs before, and I saw you hey weirdly quiet when you complimented the house.”

“Kat, I had a feeling you would have caught that. I didn’t grow up in a house like this. Where I grew up would barely classify as a ‘house’. It just made me realize that we come from different backgrounds.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re entirely different.” I say, holding her by the waist, “you left that part of your life without a second thought and you are far from that girl who left home at 17. We may have different backgrounds, but that obviously doesn’t reflect on who you are now.”

“I know, but you grew up here. You had your own bathroom and an actual bed. You come from a loving home environment, and I’m still trying to find it.”

“Adena, don’t reflect on where I come from and where you come from. You have done so much to bring yourself from that, you left a country that wanted to oppress you and have done so much to better your life. And as far as loving environments go, I feel like I would want to provide that for you.”

“And you do.” She says, resting her hands behind my neck. “I think now since we’ve gotten together, I was able to fill that void. You helped fill that void, and I love you for it.”

“I love you too. For a lot of reasons,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her. “I’ll show you them later,” I whisper in her ear when I hear the familiar heavy footsteps of my father’s.

“Girls, come down.” He says knocking in the door.

“You don’t have to give them your life story if you don’t want to.”

“I know.”

“And just so you know, we can go back to Brooklyn whenever you want, we don’t have to stay here for the week, it’s not like it’s a long trip home.”

“No, I want to stay here with you, and see your neighborhood.”

“Okay, tomorrow we’ll take a drive, okay?”

“Okay.” She nods. We make our way downstairs and gather around the kitchen table.

“So, Adena, what is it you do?” Dad asks.

“I’m a photographer, Sir. I currently work at Scarlet.”

“Is that how you and Kat met?”

“Yeah, Sutton was doing interviews and chose Adena for the position,” I explain.

“Do you enjoy what you do?”

“I left an oppressive country so I could do what I enjoy, if I didn’t leave Iran when I did, I don’t know if I would have ever left, and I know for a fact I wouldn’t be sitting in your lovely home and dating your daughter.”

“When did you leave your country?”

“Seventeen.”

“That seems young, Kat was barely doing her own laundry at seventeen. Then again you were raised in a different culture. You do see, very mature for your age, how old are you, if you don’t mind my asking.”

“I am twenty-six, Sir.”

“Dad, please don’t analyze my girlfriend.”

“I’m not analyzing her.” He says. The rest of the time was spent with the three of us catching up while Adena says back and listened. Occasionally grabbing my hand under the table, tracing patterns on my palm, and laughing lightly whenever she found something funny.

“Can I borrow the car?”

“Yeah.” Dad says, “wherever you’re going, be careful.”

“I know,” I say, getting up from the table with Adena close behind.

“Where are we doing?” Adena asks when we are back in my room.

“For a drive. I want to get out of here for a little bit. Just us,” I say, kissing her quickly as I pull on a pair of boots.

“Okay.” She whispers, kissing me again. We make our way downstairs and into the garage where I grab the keys to my mom’s car. “When was the last time you drove?” Adena asks, cautiously getting into the front seat.

“About six months ago. Just before we met I came up here to visit and I drove to see some friends. If it was practical to have a car in the city I would.” I smile, backing out of the garage as Adena looks scared stiff. “Do you not trust me?”

“I do, but still. This is a first.”

“I know, but is the weather was a lot nicer, I would have taken the other car, then you’d really get your full of me driving.”

“Kat Edison are you a daredevil?”

“Maybe,” I shrug, reaching over and taking her hand in mine.

“Kat, can you put both hands on the wheel?”

“I can’t believe you’re that scared right now. We’re okay.” I say, lifting our hand to kiss the back of hers.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going? I look like it’s about to snow and I don’t want to get trapped out here.”

“We won’t get trapped, and it isn’t going to snow.”

“But you still won’t tell me where we’re going.”

“I never thought you would be a baby.”

“New experience. I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be,” I say, leaning over to kiss her cheek when we come to a red light.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re going down to the beach, we’re not going to get out, obviously, it’s too cold. But I just wanted to give you a heads up on my family and I thought doing it out of the house would be better.”

“You make it seem like your family is going to scare me away.”

“Some of them can be overwhelming, and none of them know I’m dating a woman except for my parents, obviously.”

“Everything will be okay, Kat.” I pull into the parking lot facing the water and turn the car off, turning to face Adena. “You’re scared aren’t you?” She asks, taking my hands in hers.

“Well, I’ve never introduced my parents to someone I was dating, let alone my whole family, and now I’m doing it and I’m just nervous that everyone won’t like you, or they won’t accept me for being with you, it’s hard, I mean my parents are different, they have to love me unconditionally because it’s part of being a parent. The rest of my family though, I don’t know how open they are or if they are going to be accepting.”

“But that isn’t going to change how I feel about you. Just because one aunt or one grandparent doesn’t like that you’re with me, doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you. They just won’t get invited to the wedding.” She teases, smiling wide as she leans over to kiss me.

“We’re getting married now?”

“I feel like you are going to be in my life for a very long time, when I first met you I had a feeling deep down that I knew you and I were going to be together, and for a long time if we have anything to do about it. I love you and have loved you for a long time before I told you. I think that when we’re ready, we can discuss marriage further, but I think it would be a step worth taking with you.”

“You mean that?”

“Why wouldn’t I mean it, Sweetheart?” She asks, caressing my cheek.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She smiles, kissing me again.

* * *

I turn over in my bed and look to see Adena smiling at me. “Good morning,” she chimes, running her fingers through my hair.

“Good morning,” I smile, leaning over to kiss her softly. “Are you ready for Christmas Eve?”

“It’s a holiday I’ve never celebrated before, but I know the traditions that go along with it.”

“Fair enough, we usually have people over for dinner here, from my dad’s side, and tomorrow we go to my grandparents’ on my mom’s.”

“Who’s going to be more judgmental?”

“Maybe my dad’s side. But my mom has her brothers and a few cousins that are very set in the way they think.”

“Okay.”

“The moment you feel uncomfortable, we leave. And I mean home to Brooklyn.”

“Of course.” She says, kissing me again. “I love you.”

“I love you too. What time is it?” I ask, watching as Adena reaches for her phone.

“Eight-thirty.”

“So early.” I whine, pulling the cover over my head. I hear Adena laugh, before meeting me under the covers and smiling at me. “It’s too early to go downstairs.”

“No one said we had to get out of bed yet.” She smiles, leaning in and kissing me.

“I do have to take a shower though.” I say, watching as the look in Adena’s eyes change. “I know that look of yours.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re a horrible liar, you do know that.” I chime, leaning into kiss her. Adena laughs as I start kissing her neck, running my hands down her sides as she rolls on top of me. “You know we can’t do this now.”

“Why not?”

“The odds of my parents being awake are high and my dad has super sonic hearing.”

“What made last night different?”

“They were sleeping.”

“So?” She says, kissing my neck.

“They sleep like the dead. They don’t even wake up during a thunderstorm.” I gasp as she kisses the most sensitive spot. “Babe,” I whine as she starts kissing down my body.

“You have to be quiet.”

“You know it’s hard to when you do that.” I gasp as her tongue swipes across my center. I feel the vibration of her laughter run through me. “Adena.” I whine.

“Quiet.” She says in a husky tone, looking you at me with a smirk as she continues her motions. After a few moments I feel myself give in to Adena and I take a deep breath, letting go as quietly as I can. Adena kisses her way back up my body, smiling down at me before kissing me softly, I moan as I taste myself on her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I smile, catching my breath.

“I think a shower would be a good idea right now.”

“Both of us.”

“You’re offering?” She teases.

“I mean… it’s efficient to save water.”

“That’s your excuse.” Adena says through a chuckle.

“It’s a good one.”

“I think so.” Adena says, kissing me one more time before getting out of bed and making her way towards the en suite bathroom, “you coming?” She chimes, standing in the doorway. After a slightly longer shower than planned, Adena and I were making our way downstairs into the kitchen to see my parents sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

“Good morning,” I chime, causing them both to look up.

“Good morning girls, coffee is in the pot.” Mom chimes, looking back down at her newspaper.

“Adena, coffee?”

“Of course, black please.” She chimes, sitting down at the table across from my mom. I walk over and set the coffee down in front of her as I take a seat beside her.

“What time is everyone coming here?”

“We’re going to grandma’s this year.” Dad says.

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

“Sorry for not telling you, you can take Mom’s car if you want to.”

“Yeah, if that’s the case, I’d rather drive.”

“Okay, your mother and I are leaving around three, we have to be there by four.”

“Fine.” I say, taking a sip from my coffee.

 

-Adena POV-

I reach over and takes Kat’s free hand as she drives to her grandparents’ house, “are you okay?” I ask, brushing my thumb across her knuckles.

“I’m starting to wish I didn’t come home,” she says quietly, “I’m starting to remember why I moved to the city.”

“Don’t be that way.”

“Did I mention I’m not a big fan of my family and I haven’t come out to them. Seeing as dating a woman wasn’t really something to tell them until now.”

“You’re going to have to tell them sooner or later.”

“I know. And it’s stressful.”

“You are the same person they have always known. You just have a girlfriend and that doesn’t change anything, being with a woman doesn’t change the woman they know.”

“I know, but it’s still something that is nerve-wracking, coming out to say I’m bisexual is something I never thought I would do,” she says, tears threatening to spill.

“Don’t cry.” I whisper, reaching over to brush the tears from her cheek. We pull up in front of a house, and Kat turns the car off. “Baby.” I say, reaching over and holding her as best as I can with the obstruction of the center console. “I love you. And there isn’t anything that’s going to change that.”

“I know.”

“So, we should go in there as the power couple your friends think we are, and if anything happens, we will leave.”

“I love you.” She says quietly, leaning over and kissing me. “Sorry for getting emotional.”

“Don’t apologize. I remember how hard it was to come out to my mom, I thought she wasn’t going to accept me, or treat me differently for something I feel I have no control over. So I get it, but you have to know that those are little things.”

“I know.”

“Don’t cry, Love, it doesn’t look good on you.”

“Okay,” Kat says, taking a deep breath, “let’s get this over with.”

“Power couple.” I tease, causing her to smile.

“Biracial and Muslim power couple.” She says, kissing me quickly before getting out of the car. She walks around and comes to my side, opening the door for me. I get out of the car and pull Kat into a hug. “The sooner we’re in the sooner we leave.” She mumbles in my ear, kissing my cheek.

“I love you.” I say, holding her face in my hands for a moment, looking into her eyes.

“Power couple.” She chimes, kissing me as she takes my hand in hers while we walk up the long driveway of an equally beautiful house to her own. Kat opens the door and we’re greeted with warm laughter and different conversations. Kat helps me out of my coat, hanging it by the door before taking off her own.

“Is that my little Kat?” An older woman with glasses chimes, walking towards us with a smile.

“Hi Grandma.” Kat chimes, wrapping the shorter woman in a hug. “Grandma, this is my girlfriend, Adena.”

“Girlfriend?” The woman asks, cocking an eyebrow as she looks at me for a moment and the looking back at Kat.

“Yes, Grandma. Adena and I are dating,” Kat clarifies.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Adena, I’m Anna,” she says with a warm smile and welcoming hug.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Anna, you have a lovely home,” I say politely.

“Thank you Dear. Come inside, get out of the doorway,” she says, waving us into the house. “Food and drinks are in the kitchen, everyone is everywhere. Make yourselves at home.”

“Thank you Grandma.”

“You and I will catch up later, and I would love to know more about your girlfriend.”

“Okay,” Kay nods as her grandmother kisses her cheek. “Do you want anything?”

“I’m okay right now, thank you,” I smile, taking her hand in mine and giving it a small squeeze. The rest of the night went by better than Kat expected. Everyone she introduced me to as her girlfriend was happy that Kat finally found someone to be with, one aunt teasing about the fact that she may have been gay all along seeing as she never had a boyfriend, which made Kat feel a bit at ease.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” she whispers in my ear. As soon as she gets up, Anna takes her place.

“Hello Adena, are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yes ma’am.” I smile.

“Wonderful, so I’m going to get right to it, how did you and Kat meet?”

“We met at Scarlet.”

“Oh, that’s lovely. What is it that you do?”

“I photograph for the fashion department, as well as different events that we hold.”

“That’s nice. It’s nice to see Kat with someone so creative and loving.”

“Thank you,” I smile.

“Grandma, are you interrogating my girlfriend?” Kat asks, walking over and sitting on the arm of the couch next to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.

“Just getting to know her.”

“No interrogation here,” I smile up at her, taking her hand in mine.

“How long have you two been together?”

“About four months now,” Kat says, looking at me with a smile.

“Yeah, it’ll be four months in the first.”

“That’s nice, your anniversary is on the new year.” Anna chimes.

“Yeah,” Kat whispers, kissing the top of my head.

“It’s nice to see you so in love, Kat. I’m happy you found someone to make you happy.”

“Thank you Grandma.”

“You’re welcome, Sweetie.” She says, kissing Kat on the cheek.

“Are you ready to go?” Kat whispers in my ear.

“Yeah,” I nod, standing up from where I was sat. We make our way around the house, making sure to say goodbye to every one and letting her parents know we’ll see them at home, seeing as they weren’t ready to leave just yet. Once outside, Kat pulls me into her arms and kisses me hard. “What was that for?”

“I feel like I haven’t kissed you properly all night.” She smiles, kissing me again.

“I would say tonight as better than you thought it would be.”

“Yeah, it was. I thought they were going to treat you differently, or treat me differently.”

“I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

“I should have listened to you.” She says, kissing my cheek as she leads the way to the car.

“I don’t want to say I told you so, but…” I tease, laughing when she shoves me playfully.

“We’re a power couple.”

“That’s what we’re going to call us from now on?”

“I think it fits.”

“I think so too.” Kat smiles, opening the car door for me. I lean in and kiss her quickly.

“Such a gentleman.”

“Always.” She says, closing the door behind me once I’m in the car. Once we get back to the house, we take advantage of the fact that we have it all to ourselves. Kat and I change into something comfortable and gather in the living room where she lights the fireplace. We curl up on the couch and enjoy tithe quiet as we stare at the colorful Christmas tree. “I have something for you.” She says, kissing the side of my head as she gets up and goes to the presents under the tree, “before you ask, I sent it here before we came so that way it wouldn’t ruin the surprise.”

“Kat.” I say quietly, getting up from the couch and running up to her room quick, getting what I need and making my way back downstairs, looking over to see a confused look on Kat’s face. “I hid your gift in my camera bag.” I chime, handing her a neatly wrapped package.

“Adena.” She smiles, kissing me quickly as we exchange gifts. “You go first.” She smiles, sitting back as I join her in the floor in front of the fireplace. I smile, putting the package in my lap and unwrapping it to reveal a new camera lens that I’ve been looking into buying for weeks, but never getting around to it.

“Kat, this must have cost a small fortune.” I knew it cost a small fortune of about five hundred dollars.

“It’s fine, I knew you wanted it and needed it, so there is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Thank you.” I say, leaning in to kiss her. “Your turn.” I chime, sitting back and watching as she unwraps the paper from her gift.

“You’re talking to me about a small fortune and you got me something from Tiffany’s?” She says, looking at the iconically blue box. She opens it and reveals the simple silver bracelet with a red heart charm I chose to get her. “Adena.” She coos, “it’s beautiful.” She says, taking it out of the box. I take it from her hand and put it around her wrist, happy at the fact that I used my own wrist to size it rather than getting the standard side. “Thank you.” She smiles, kissing me softly.

“You’re welcome.” I whisper against her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

-Kat POV-

“How was it going back home?” Jane asks as she, Sutton, and I were having coffee together to catch up.

“It was good, everyone loved Adena more than I thought they would.”

“That’s good.” Sutton chimes.

“Yeah, and even with coming out, my family took it better than I thought, well my dad’s side. My mom’s side was a little put off right away but they got over it when my mother spoke to them and they saw how happy I am with Adena.”

“What are you two doing for New Years?” Jane asks, looking between me and Sutton.

“Adena and I want to just stay home. She’s going to cook and we’re just staying together.”

“Has she officially moved in yet?” Sutton chimes.

“No, well, kind of. She moved a lot of her stuff into storage and sold some things she didn’t care for. And she’s been staying with me since we’ve came back.”

“So she’s officially moved in,” Sutton states, sipping her coffee.

“Yes, she is.”

“You beat around the bush too much. No pun intended.” Sutton chimes.

“Ha, ha. I just want to keep some things to myself sometimes. I feel like I don’t need to share everything as far as what happens to me and Adena.”

“You’re entitled to feel that way.” Jane says. “You don’t have to share every last detail if you aren’t ready to,” She adds, reaching over and placing her hand on top of mine.

“Thank you.” I say, looking at her with a smile, looking at my phone when it starts ringing. “Hey.”

“Hello, Kat,” Adena chimes, causing me to smile. “Are you still with your friends?”

“Yeah, is everything okay?”

“Yes, I just missed you,” She says, I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Well I’ll be home in a little bit, and then you’ll have me all to yourself,” I say with a smile, looking up to see Jane and Sutton smiling at me.

“Just how I like it,” Adena husks, “I love you and I’ll see you in a little while?”

“Yeah, I love you and I’ll see you soon,” I say, hanging up the phone. I look up to see Sutton and Jane with their stupid grins, “what?”

“You two are my favorite couple, when is the wedding?” Sutton chimes, resting her chin on her fists.

“We aren’t getting married.”

“I doubt that.” Jane chimes, as she looks at her phone.

“Oh really?”

“Yes, I feel like you two are going to get married one day.” She says, setting her phone down, “you two are too compatible to not get married.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I believe it.”

“So do I.” Sutton chimes.

“Nice to know you two are predicting my future with my girlfriend.”

“Don’t you feel that way? Isn’t that the running stereotype about lesbian couples, they move to fast?”

“I suppose, but marriage is too fast. Like moving in together doesn’t seem as fast as marriage.”

“Long term commitment isn’t something to take lightly, but it is something to consider with Adena, I don’t see you two being apart ever.” Jane says. “Just remember who gave you the pep talk when you’re ready to choose a maid of honor.”

“Uhm, yeah remember who held your hair back every time you got super wasted at the Scarlet Christmas party for three years in a row.” Sutton says.

“Which again brings it back to me, seeing as I did it for both of you.”

“Oh, right, my bad. Well either way, I want to be a bridesmaid.”

“You both are insane,” I say, standing up and pulling on my coat, “I love you both, and I’ll see you guys next week at work.”

* * *

“Honey, I’m home!” I call out once I open the door. I see Adena come around the corner from the kitchen with a smile on her face. “Hey, babe.” I say, pulling her by the waist and kissing her.

“Hello.” She whispers against my lips, kissing me again. “I missed you,” she hums, holding my face and looking into my eyes for a moment longer than necessary.

“Are you okay?” I ask gently, running my fingers through her hair.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“I would tell you if something was wrong, Sweetheart,” she says with a smile, leaning in to kiss me.

“I know, but I worry.”

“Which is one of the things I love about you. But I do have news.”

“Okay.” I say, walking further into the apartment and running up the stairs to change into something comfortable.

“I decided to take the job with the other magazine.” She calls up.

“Really?” I say, looking over the railing to see Adena sitting on the couch.

“Yeah. It’s more of what I like to do as far as photographs go, and I’d be able to freelance a bit more while I’m working. And I just feel it would be a better opportunity in the long run.”

“Well, you know that no matter what I will support your decisions,” I say, coming back down the stairs and kissing her on the cheek. “Did you give your notice with Scarlet yet?”

“I emailed Jaqueline. She didn’t reply back yet. But I still have the first week of the new year to work at Scarlet before I move on.”

“Where is the other magazine based out of?”

“Williamsburg.”

“That’s good, you won’t have to commute too far.”

“Not that far at all, which is good. The only time I’d go over to Manhattan is when I want to photograph over there or see you for lunch.” She says, kissing my cheek.

“Which is hopefully often.” I tease, leaning in to kiss her.

“I mean, I guess so,” Adena teases. “How were Jane and Sutton?”

“Good. They, uh, they were basically planning our wedding.” I say with a laugh, watching as Adena’s eyebrows shoot into her hairline.

“Oh, really?”

“All hypothetical of course, well they were planning and debating on who was going to be my maid of honor.”

“It’s interesting how they assume we’re going to get married one day.”

“Sutton is determined that we are going to get married one day.”

“They must see something in us.”  
  
“They see how much I love you. They know how I never really loved anyone before and that you brought something out in me I thought I wasn’t going to have.”

“Well aren’t I lucky?”

“I think we’re both lucky.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her.

“You are quite sentimental, do you know that?”

“You seem to bring it out in me.”

* * *

“So it turns out Jane and Sutton will be joining us for New Year’s Eve.” I say, plopping down on the couch behind Adena, who was sitting on the floor editing photos.

“That’s okay with me.” She says, looking up at me with a smile.

“Are you sure?”

“I enjoy the company of your friends, I don’t mind if they want to come by.”

“I’ll let them know,” I say, kissing the top of her head, “they asked me to run it by you first.”

“I wouldn’t object to them coming over, unless it’s at a time I would want you all to myself, then it would be an issue.”

“We can kick them about as soon as it’s midnight, depending on how drunk they are,” I chime, causing Adena to chuckle.

“I wouldn’t want to be rude. Besides you like to have fun with your friends and I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“Want to go on a date?” I ask, watching as she raises her eyebrows a bit. “What?”

“Nothing, I just feel like it’s been a while since you’ve asked me on a date, and yet we’ve been a couple for months now.”

“Well, things have been busy. But I would like to take you out now.”

“And where would you want to go?”

“We can go into Manhattan, get something to eat, walk around and enjoy the Christmas spirit, two days after the fact,” I smile.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I accept your date offer. But it is pretty cold outside, make sure you’re warm, I don’t want to hear you whine,” She says, patting my cheek before going to get her things.

“I won’t whine.”

“You’ve done it before, in fact you did it yesterday outside of Grand Central when we were waiting for a cab.”

“Okay, okay.”

“You know better than to debate me, I will always win,” she says playfully, kissing my cheek.

“I know that very well,” I say, kissing her quickly as I get my bag. We end up going over to the MoMa, a museum that I have not had the pleasure of visiting since moving to New York all those years ago. Adena and I walked hand in hand up the stairs to the mail connection of galleries. Some how we end up parting ways, I get caught up looking at a few paintings wheel she wanders off to what looked like a room with photographs in it. I make my way into the same room, walking over to where she was fixated in one photo in particular, I walk. Up behind her, placing my hand on the small of her back, causing her to jump a bit. She looks up at me and smiles, kissing me quickly. “What has your interest?” I ask, wrapping my arm around her waist.

“This,” she says quietly, pointing to the photo. It was an old photo, based on what they were wearing, it looked as if it may have been from the twenties or so, but I wouldn’t be able to tell for sure. “There is something about them, I don’t know what it is, but I as drawn to these women.”

“Is this what you love about photography? The timelessness of it?”

“Yes, actually. These woman were caught in one second of their lives by someone who wanted to take the photo. The smiles on their faces, it looks almost as if it could have been after the war or something like that, you can see the joy on their faces. They will forever be in this moment, even if they are long gone by now, which they might be. People can come and live in the moment of they being happy, for whatever reason.” Adena explains as she continues staring at the photo.

“I love you.” I say, kissing the side of her head.

“I love you, too.” She smiles, kissing me quickly and taking my hand in hers, leading the way towards another corridor of photos. “Do you want to keep looking at photos? We can go look at paintings.”

“It doesn’t matter to me, I just enjoy being with you.”

“You’re very sweet to me, Kat.”

“It’s my job.” Adena smiles, kissing me quickly. We spend several hours getting lost in the museum, there was a lot to look at and a lot Adena wanted to look at.

“It’s getting late,” Adena says, looking at her phone, something she only did when she needed to answer emails for work. “Would you like to get something for dinner, or would you want to go home and cook?”

“You mean, we go home and you cook?” I tease, causing Adena to smile.

“Of course, you barely like boiling water.”

“One day I will surprise you and cook you an awesome meal.”

“Is that a promise?” She asks, wrapping her arms around me.

“Yes it is,” I whisper, kissing her quickly.

 

-Adena POV-

I feel the sun shine on my face, causing me to open my eyes a bit, I look over and realize Kat is not in bed. I sit up, looking over to see Sutton and Jane were still firmly passed out in the couch where we left them last night, not long after we watched the ball drop of TV signifying the New Year, as well as the anniversary of Kat and I being together for four months. I look towards the kitchen area to see Kat standing in front of the stove, bopping to the music that quietly played from the corner of the kitchen. I get out of bed quietly, pulling in one of Kat’s hoodies as I tip toe towards Kat, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing the back of her neck. “Good morning.” She chimes, turning to kiss me.

“What are you up to?”

“I told you, one day I’d surprise you and cook for you, so I was up early and googled how to make a frittata, I think it came out really good.”

“I’m impressed.”

“You should be, just making it more apparent as to why I’m a keeper.”

“I was with you this long with your lack of cooking skills, if this tastes good, then I’d expect it more often.”

“What smells so good?” Sutton asks groggily, sitting up on the couch with her hair all over the place.

“Hangover cure,” Kat chimes, “breakfast will be ready soon.”

“Did Kat make breakfast?” Jane asks sleepily.

“She did,” I say, setting the table and making coffee. “Whenever you ladies feel you’re able to, you can come sit.” I smile, watching at Sutton and Jane struggle to make their way to the table. “Do you need any help?” I whisper in Kat’s ear, placing my hands on her shoulders.

“No thanks, it should be done soon,” Kat smiles, kissing me softly. “Go sit,” she adds, kissing my cheek.

“So, happy anniversary to you two and thank you for having us over this fine New Year’s Day,” Sutton says, sitting down at the table.

“You’re welcome, and thank you. Coffee?” I say, holding up the French press.

“Please,” Sutton says, holding up her cup.

“I would like one too please.” Jane says, running her fingers through her hair as she walks out of the bathroom. I pour a cup for her and fix a cup for Kat the way she likes it.

“And here we have a frittata for four, and some fruit.” Kat announces, placing the frittata on the table and a bowl of cut up fruit beside it, as well as a few bagels. I feel her kiss the side of my head before walking around the table to sit across from me.

“I would like to thank you both for putting up with us last night and raining on your anniversary parade, but grateful that you took us poor lonely girls in to celebrate twice with you guys.” Jane says.

“And this frittata is amazing.” Sutton says, not bothering to finish the bite in her mouth before speaking, causing me to laugh.

“You ladies are always welcome, no matter what.” I say, looking over to see Kat smiling at me.

“I wouldn’t say ‘no matter what’, but I do agree with Adena.”

“Did I ever mention that you two are my favorite couple ever?” Sutton says.

“You may have at least a thousand times,” Kat chimes.

“Well ,you are.”

“Thank you,” Kat says to Sutton.

 

-Kat POV-

As breakfast went on, I could stop smiling at the fact that Adena was getting along so well with Jane and Sutton. She was engaged in the things they had to and was holding conversations with them very well, something I was fairly nervous about, seeing as the three of them have never really talked outside of work. “Kat, I’ll clean up.” Adena offers when she sees me begin to clean the table.

“It’s okay,” I smile, clearing everyone’s plate.

“Kat will make a good wife one day,” Sutton says, sipping her coffee.

“So I have heard. I think it’s too early to discuss that chapter of our lives,” Adena says, holding her coffee cup with both hands.

“But when you know, you know. Isn’t that what people say?” Sutton chimes. I meet Adena’s gaze and we smile at each other, she looks away shyly. “You can’t deny that you guys won’t be married before this year is over.”

“I plead the fifth,” I say.

“So do I.” Adena says, winking at me with a playful smirk. Sutton and Jane decided to leave soon after they were finished talking with Adena, once they left, I continued to clean up fro the night before whole Adena folded the extra blankets and pillows that Jane and Sutton used and put them away. “So, what is the plan for today?” Adena asks, walking down the stairs and wrapping her arms around me from behind.

“Just us, home, I want you all to myself.”

“It doesn’t take a lot for you to have me all to yourself.”

“I know,” I smile, turning to kiss her.

 


	8. Chapter 8

-Kat POV-

“Kat?” Jaqueline calls out across the office, I look up at her over my computer screen to see her beckoning me towards her with the curl of her finger, I get you and make my way towards her. I get up and go into her office.

“What’s up?”

“Just checking in on you. You seem distracted lately.”

“No distractions here.”

“Are you sure. You haven’t been this distracted in months.”

“Can I ask you something personal?” I ask, running my fingers through my hair.

“How personal?”

“How long were you with your husband before he proposed?”

“Are you tying this into something work related?” She asks with narrow eyes.

“No, but it may have to do with the fact that I’m distracted.”

“Six months,” she says, looking down at her wedding ring.

“That isn’t too soon?”

“Everyone moves at different paces, and if something feels right, you know. Just because people don’t want to commit to their partner right away, doesn’t make them wait any less right that people who know in a matter of months.”

“Okay.” I nod.

“You’re planning on proposing to your girlfriend?”

“One day.”

“How long have you been together?”

“Six and a half months.”

“If you feel it’s right, it isn’t too soon.” Jaqueline smiles, “congratulations in advance if everything pans out. Don’t forget we have an event soon. Social media is the key component of it.”

“I know.”

“Don’t let your personal life distract you.”

“I won’t.” I smile.

“You may go,” she says with a smirk. I turn on my heels and walk out of her office, I look up and see Adena standing in the lobby, she looks over at me and smiles widely, walking towards me.

“Kat.” She chimes, pulling me in for a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m good, what are you doing over here?”

“I would like to take you out to lunch if it’s okay.” She says, holding my hips.

“Of course, let me just get my stuff,” I say, kissing her cheek and going to my desk. I walk back over to Adena and take her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. “Where are we going?”

“We can go uptown, go to that sushi place you like,” She chimes, as we walk into the elevator.

“I’d like that.” I smile, kissing her softly. “How is your day so far?”

“Wonderful, I was just out in Central Park taking pictures and it was beautiful, the snow and everything, it was amazing.”

“I enjoy seeing you happy about work,” I say, allowing her to go first when we reach our floor. “Not that you weren’t happy working here, you just seem like you enjoy what you’re doing now more.”

“I am, I miss working here, I don’t get to see you but that is a small price to pay.” Adena smiles, hailing a cab. She lets the driver know where we wanted to go and sits back, taking my hand in hers. We discuss our jobs on the ride to the restaurant, once inside and seated, we place our orders with the waitress. Once she leaves us, Adena looks at me with a strange look.

“You’re not telling me something,” I say, playing with the straw in my water.

“I was going to wait until we were home tonight, but I feel I should let you know now.” She says, folding her hands in front of her.

“Okay,” I say, mirroring her position.

“I have to go away for work.”

“Where do you have to go?”

“They want me to go to France, seeing as I’ve been there already, when Ina saw my portfolio and resume she said when it was time to, she wanted me to go and do a shoot. The time is now.”

“How long?”

“A week,” she says, sitting up straight when the waitress came with our lunch, “but she said I was allowed to take one guest, and it’s a business trip that is paid for, and so I was thinking you could come with me.”

“Well, who else would go with you?”

“I was going to offer Sutton the trip if you declined.” She teases.

“Spending a week with my girlfriend in France is something I would never pass up.”

“I would have thought something was wrong if you did.”

“When do we leave?”

“Day after tomorrow, so Wednesday.”

“I’ll let Jaqueline know,” I chime.

“I let my mother know I was going to be there, she wants me to go over to London to meet her one day,” Adena says.

“That’s fine. I would like to see your mom.”

“Wonderful. I’ll let her know, she’s going to be very happy.”

* * *

“So you’re gonna do it?” Sutton asks as she looks through the racks for something Oliver wanted.

“Yeah,” I nod, looking at my phone. “Should I talk to her mom?”

“If you want to, but that isn’t really the thing anymore, is it?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug. “I feel like I should out of respect.”

“If you feel that will make you feel good, then do it,” she says, holding up a sweater. “This will work, look I’m here for you no matter what and I want to know all the details when your make up your mind.”

“I will. You know that.” I say, following Sutton out of the closet.

* * *

I sat at the edge of the couch, debating on whether or not I should Skype Adena’s mother or not. I look up at the door, Adena wasn’t home and said she was going to be out all day and well into the evening. “Fuck it,” I say, calling her mother.

“Hello, Kat.” Padma smiles when she comes on the screen. “How are you, Love?”

“I’m doing very well. How are you?”

“Everything is going great over here. Are you coming with Adena when she is in France?”

“Of course. I was able to get the time off, I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see you either, Sweetheart. To what do I owe the pleasure of your calling me?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” I say, feeling myself grow nervous. “I’m planning on it, but I don’t really know when. I just wanted to ask you and let you know where I stand in my relationship with your daughter.” I look to see her furrow her brow a bit.

“Kat, is everything okay?”

“Everything with Adena and I are great, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I take a deep breath, “I would like to marry your daughter.” I close my eyes for a moment.

“Dear, look at me,” Padma says I open my eyes to see her smiling at me. “You have my blessing.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I have never see Adena so happy. Since she’s been with you, she has been the happiest girl in the entire world. You bring out the best in her and for that, I am grateful and know you will keep her happy for years to come.” She says I feel my eyes begin to well up slightly. “Don’t cry, Love. You are the best person to come into her life. And remember that no matter what, you two are going to be in each other’s lives for a long time to come, whether that be through marriage, or a friendship, I felt it when I first met you. I knew you were going to be a force that she needed in her life.”

“Thank you.” I cry, smiling ear to ear.

“Kat?” I look you and see Adena coming through the door with a concerned look. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m happy,” I say, looking down at the screen to see Padma mimicking the motion of zipping her lips to keep the secret. “Your mother and I were on Skype and she told me a story about you from when you were little and I laughed.”

“Is it the story about the goat, Momma, I told you never to tell that story.” Adena huffs, walking into the apartment. I pick up the laptop and turn it around to face Adena.

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart, you know I like telling that story.” Padma smiles. “How are you?”

“I’m good, I came home for lunch. Would you be okay with me calling you tomorrow, we can make arrangements to see each other when I’m in France.”

“Of course, I love you and I will talk to you tomorrow. Love you too, Kat.”

“Love you,” I say, holding the laptop out in front of Adena and I. Adena ends the he call with a wave.

“So my mother called you?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod, putting the laptop back on the coffee table.

“Your voice goes up when you are lying to me,” Adena says with a knowing look and a cocked eyebrow.

“Okay, I called her, I wanted to let her know I was able to get the time off from work and I was looking forward to seeing her, are you annoyed I talked to her?”

“Not at all, I talk to your mother on a regular basis too,” she smiles, setting out lunch on the table.

“She actually texts me to point out the fact that you text her more than I do, especially when I’m busy working and barely have time to think, let alone text my parents,” I say, joining her at the table. “Thank you for lunch.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her.

“You’re welcome, I was just happy I was able to get time to come home for lunch. I feel like I was busy all morning,” she says, shaking her head. “Are you getting ready for our trip?”

“Of course. I can’t wait to go.” I smile as I start eating. “Do you still want me to help you out and pack your bag?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate it. Just use the one big suitcase for us both then.”

“That works,” I nod. The rest of lunch is fairly quiet between us, Adena talked about the gossip around the office of the magazine, how she hated hearing it.

“I will never understand how people could get joy out of hearing other people’s business.” Adena shakes her head. “Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? I don’t work for a tabloid, and you know that.”

“But I do know you like to read gossip before bed.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I chuckle when Adena rolls her eyes with a smirk.

“I hate that I have to go, but I’ll be home later.” She says, looking at her phone when it starts buzzing. We get up from the table and I walk her to the door. “I love you.”

“I love you too, I’ll see you later,” I say, kissing her quickly before she walks out the door. I clean up our plates from lunch and straighten up around the apartment when I decide to call Sutton, seeing as Jane was out of town for work. “Are you busy?”

“Never too busy for you, what’s up.”

“Want to go shopping with me?”

“What kind of shopping?” She chimes, I could hear the smile in her voice, causing me to laugh a bit.

“Ring shopping.” I mumble, holding the phone away when she decides to scream, “are you done?” I ask, raising the phone to my ear, “apparently not.”

“You’re going to do it?”

“Yeah, I don’t know when, but I know it will be soon.”

“Holy shit. I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it. So do you want to help me or not?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know, where would you want an engagement ring from?”

“Tiffany’s.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“How fast can you get there?”

“As fast as a cab can get me there from Greenpoint.”

* * *

The cab driver pulls up in front of the infamous store, I look out the window and see Sutton standing by the door, bouncing giddily when she sees me pull up. I pay the driver and get out of the car, Sutton rushes over to be, nearly tackling me. “I’d like to get into the store without broken bones.”

“Are you going to have a destination wedding?”

“She’d have to agree to marry me before we spoke about the kind of wedding we’d be having.” I laugh, walking into the store.

“Can I help you?” An older woman chimes with a smile not long after Sutton and I walked into the store.

“My friend here is looking for an engagement ring for her girlfriend.” Sutton chimes, wrapping her arm around my shoulder proudly.

“Congratulations, follow me.” The woman smiles. We follow the woman towards a case with several rings.

“I have a question.”

“Of course.”

“Can I design the ring?”

“Of course, we have several bands to choose from and diamonds.”

“I want to do the custom ring,” I say, sitting down across from the woman and next to Sutton.

“Wonderful.” The woman chimes, pulling out different settings and diamonds of all shapes. “The main question I have to ask is about a budget, do you have one?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head a bit.

“Damn, you’re not holding back are you?” Sutton chimes.

“No.” I smile.

* * *

“Do you think she’s going to like it?” I ask Sutton as we have a drink at a bar not too far from Tiffany’s.

“She would have loved a generic ring, but the custom choice, I think it was worth the seven grand you dropped on it.”

“She’s worth every penny.”

“Do you think she feels the same way you do?”

“Yes, I do. I think she would want to get married.”

“Have you ever talked about it?”

“Of course, she was on board with the discussion. She didn’t stray away from the idea.”

“Have you ever talked about kids.”

“No, we haven’t. I don’t know if we’re going to talk about that.”

“You don’t want them?”

“I don’t know, I mean, it’s something to talk about. I think we both like our careers too much to have kids at the moment, but who knows.” I shrug.

“I think you two would be awesome moms, especially if you decided to adopt.”

“You know, you think all these things and then they end up becoming something, I don’t know what it is about you, but stop it.”

“I’m just saying,” she says, putting her hands up.

“Sutton, I love you, you know that. But your premonitions or whatever we want to call it are getting intense.” I laugh.

“Maybe I missed my calling to be a psychic.” She shrugs, finishing the rest of her drink.

“Apparently you have a lot of missed callings.” I tease.

“I know.” She chuckles, going up to the bar and getting another drink. I reach into my bag and pull out the iconic blue box, opening in to see the ring. It seemed like it was simple, but it was far from cheap, the white gold band was encrusted with diamonds around it, and the heart-shaped diamond in the center was also surrounded by smaller ones, it was ostentatious granted, but I knew Adena would love it. I couldn’t take that away, no matter how flashy it was she was going to love it because it looked simple. And knowing Adena, if she were to say yes and we would get married, I know she wouldn’t wear it often, just her wedding band. “Are you going to look at it all the time?” Sutton asks when she gets back to the table.

“Yeah.” I smile, closing the box and putting it back in my bag, “should I do it when we’re away or while we’re home?”

“I think away would be slightly more unexpected. I don’t really know. I would want to be proposed to when the time was right no matter what or where.”

“What if she says no?”

“I doubt she will say no, and I mean that.”

* * *

“Are you okay?” Adena asks, taking my hand in hers as we wait to board our flight to France.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know, but you’re shaking.” She says, rubbing my knee.

“I’m okay, I’m excited to be going away with you,” I say, kissing her cheek. She takes my hand and turns to face me a bit.

“Where do you want to go when we’re away?” She asks gently, caressing my cheek.

“You’ve been there, I’ve never been. I’ll just follow you around.”

“That works, I can show you the sights, then we’ll take a trip across to see my mother. Maybe over the weekend. I should be able to get everything that I need for work fairly quickly, then we can spend the weekend with my mom and aunts. I haven’t seem Some one my acts in years, they’ll be excited to see me and meet you.” Adena smiles.

“I’m looking forward to meeting them.” There was an announcement that our flight was boarding, Adena and I stand up, I stretch a bit while Adena gets her camera bag. She takes my hand as we walk over to the gate. Once we get in our seats, we settle in for the long flight, Adena begins reading a magazine she brought with her while I open my laptop and start doing things for work, I forgot I had a window open where I was looking at rings, prior to going shopping with Sutton, I quickly close it realizing it didn’t go unnoticed by Adena. I see her quickly look back at her magazine when I catch her looking. She smirks, playing it off like she didn’t see anything when I know full well that she did. We didn’t talk about it though through the entire flight we just sat there doing our own thing until Adena started to get tired and rested her head in my shoulder and began falling asleep.

* * *

I wake up I to see Adena smiling at me. Her hair sticking up against the plush white pillows of the hotel’s bed. “Good morning,” she says, her voice thick with sleep.

“Good morning,” I say, turning on my side and kissing her softly.

“Are you ready to explore?”

“As ready as ever, but I don’t want to get up yet,” I whine, wrapping my arms around Adena.

“I didn’t say we had to get out of bed yet.” She chuckles, kissing my forehead.

“Good,” I mumble into her shoulder. We lie in bed quietly for another hour, Adena softly humming as she runs her fingers through my hair, the entire time I was thinking about the ring in my bag, thinking this would be a perfect time, but I went against it.

“You’re thinking.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“I know you’re okay, but you’re also thinking.” She smiles, pulling back to look at me better. “I know when you’re stuck in your head, Kat. It happens more often than you realize.”

“Everything is fine, Love. I promise I’m looking forward to these next few days.” I say reassuringly, kissing her quickly, “I am hungry though, and I was thinking about what to eat.” I smile.

“I’ll order us breakfast.”

“Okay, I’m going to go wash up,” I say, kissing her one last time before getting out of bed.

 

-Adena POV-

Kat and I were walking through a park not too far from the Eiffel Tower and I could tell Kat was getting excited. “You want to take a selfie, don’t you?”

“Duh,” She smiles, pulling me towards it. Kat reaches into her bag, digging around for her cell phone when something catches my eye, I ignore it, jumping slightly when she shrieks after finding her phone, “okay, okay. Ready?” She smiles, holding the phone out in front of us and taking the photo a couple of times until it’s perfect. “Okay, we’re good for now.” Kat chimes, putting her phone back in her bag and pulling me in for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you.” I smile, hugging her for a moment before letting her go to take a few photos for work. Kat holds back as I do a few things for work, she looks around, taking in the fresh Spring air. I notice she’s sitting on a bench, her eyes for closed as her face was tilted towards the sun, I couldn’t help but take a few photos of her sitting there, a small smile playing in her face.

“Are those going into your work portfolio?” She chimes, opening her eyes and smiling at me.

“No, they’re for me.” I say, walking over and sitting down beside her, “you want to see?”

“Yes.” I pulling up the photo on the screen and showing it to Kat. She smiles when she looks at it, “I like it.”

“You look so peaceful, and happy.” I smile, kissing her quickly.

“I love you.”

“I love you.” I whisper in her ear, kissing her cheek. “Come on, I want to show you something,” I says holding my hand out for her to take.

“Where are we going?”

“The Louvre.”

“Of course a museum.” Kat teases, rolling her eyes.

“Where else would we go?” I smile.

 

-Kat POV-

No matter how much I teased Adena about her love for museums, there was something about seeing her look at art, or rather watching her get lost in art, that made me happy. I walk over to where she was standing, looking at a painting with her head tilted to the side, something she always did when she was getting lost in something. I place my hand in the small of her back, causing her to come back to reality for a moment, she turns to me and smiles. “Hello, Love.” She says quietly, taking my hand.

“Hi.” I whisper, kissing the side of her head.

“Are you getting tired?”

“A little, it’s been a long day.”

“Want to go back to the hotel? We’ll get room service?”

“When you’re ready.”

“I’m ready, we’ve been here for a while, and I’d like to just have time with you and be in our bed.” She smiles, kissing me quickly. We are back in our hotel room, curled up in bed as we eat. Adena feeding me some of her dessert while we watch crappy TV. “So, did you enjoy yourself today?”

“Of course.”

“Tomorrow we’re going to go into the country. I’m going to rent a car.”

“You’re going to drive?” I tease.

“I do know how to drive, don’t be so shocked. I just haven’t in a while, but if anything, you can drive.”

“Thank you for volunteering me.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiles, kissing my cheek.

“Do you ever want kids?” I ask, not fully registering the fact that I asked the question until Adena begins her answer.

“When the time is right. When I feel like settling down fully and feel as if it’s time to experience that part of life. I suppose the answer is yes, I do want children, but when it feels right. I would also want to adopt. Just so you know.” She smiles, settling further back into the pillows, “how about you?”

“I feel the same way you do, even down to adoption.”

“At least we are on the same page. But I think getting married would be the step in between.” Adena smiles, giving me a knowing look before getting out of the bed and disappearing around the corner. I sit up a bit when she comes back, a smirk playing on her face. “You love me, yes?”

“Of course.” I say, furrowing my brow in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“I have something for you,” she smiles. “Close your eyes.” I do as I’m told and feel as Adena crawls up the bed towards me, “hold out your hand,” she says, I do as I’m told and feel as she puts something in my palm, “open,” she whispers. I look down to see an envelope in my hand, I look up at her to see her smiling at me.

“Is it a bill I have to pay?” I tease, causing Adena to laugh.

“No.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Open it.” I do as I’m told, tearing the edge of the envelope and turning it over to see a ring fall into my hand, I gasp. “Kat, I know we haven’t been together for a very long time, but I know that you are the person I want to settle down and start a family with, and I know that if I don’t take this step now, I don’t know when I will so, Kathryn Edison, will you marry me?” She asks with a wide smile that started to shrink the longer I took to answer her. I was lost in looking at the ring, simple and something I would expect from Adena, I look up at her to see worry in her eyes, I was taking too long to answer. I get out of bed, shaking my head a bit as I go over to my bag, pulling out the small box and handing it to her. Adena looks up at me with tears in her eyes, her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as she opens the box, revealing the ring I got her. “Oh my god, Kat, it’s beautiful.”

“You threw me off my game, and now I forgot my little speech I had prepared for you.” I laugh, both of us holding our rings, neither of them on yet. “I love you, and it’s apparent where we both stand in this relationship so, Adena El-Amin, will you marry me?”

“Of course.” She laughs, tears running down her face and she pulls me in for a kiss. “You didn’t give me an answer yet.”

“I mean, I guess I’ll marry you.” I tease, causing Adena to slap my arm playfully. I slip her ring onto her finger and she puts mine on me. “I love you.” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.

“I love you, too.” She chuckles, I brush the tears from her cheeks. “I never felt so much love in my life.”

“Neither have I.”


	9. Chapter 9

-Adena POV-

“Are you ready?” I ask Kat as we walk up to my mother’s flat.

“Of course.” She smiles, kissing me quickly before I ring the bell, we stand there for a moment waiting for someone to open the door.

“Hello, Adena.” Mother says pulling me in for a tight hug. “And Kat, how are you?”

“Very well, thank you,” Kat smiles.

“Come in, come in. Let’s get out of the rain.”

“Are Ester and Jasmine here?” I ask, taking off my hijab while Kat helps me out of my coat.

“No they are not, why?”

“We have news, and I’d love to share it with everyone, but I want to tell you first.”

“Okay, Sweetheart. Let’s go sit in the kitchen.” Mother says, walking ahead of us.

“You ready to tell her?” I ask, turning to see Kat’s cheeks a slight shade of pink.

“As ever.” She smiles, kissing me as I take her hand and lead her into the kitchen.

“Would either of you like a cup of tea?”

“Yes, please.” We both say as we sit at the table, Mother fixes us each a cup, sitting across from Kat and I.

“What is your news?” She smiles.

“Well, Momma, Kat and I are engaged.” I say, watching as she smiles wide and tears run down her cheeks.

“Can I see the ring?” She asks, Kat and I smile at each other, lifting our hands for her to see our rings, “you both proposed?”

“Adena beat me to it.” Kat laughs, I roll my eyes a bit.

“You’re ring is beautiful, Kat.”

“Thank you.”

“Adena’s ring is gorgeous. Did you pick this out as is, Kat?”

“I had it custom made.”

“It is beautiful.” Mother smiles. “Congratulations to you both.”

“Thank you, Mother.” I smile. “Before you ask, we aren’t going to start planning the wedding yet, we both are busy with work and everything else going on, but as soon as we start making plans, we will let you know.”

“Wonderful, Adena. I am so proud and happy for both of you.” She smiles, patting the top of my hand. “I won’t bother you about grandchildren just yet.”

“Mother, when the time comes you’ll know about that too. But I’ll give you the heads up in the fact that we’re going to adopt.”

“That is okay, I always had a feeling you wouldn’t want to have a child since you came out to me, I felt like you would want to adopt to grow your family.”

“Thank you for understanding, Momma.” I say, getting up and walking around the table to give her a hug, “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Adena.”

 

-Kat POV-

Adena and I were sitting in the living room together while her mother was fussing around in the kitchen. “You look as if you haven’t aged,” I say, flipping through a photo album that consisted of pictures of Adena throughout her childhood. “This baby picture is so cute.” I coo, causing Adena to roll her eyes at me, “look at those cheeks.”

“I was cute, wasn’t I?” Adena chimes.

“Maybe we should have one of our own.” I whisper, looking into her eyes, searching for the answer. I see a different range of emotions go through them before she settles on one that looks like sorrow. “What is it?”

“I don’t want to discuss this now.” She whispers, looking over her shoulder to see if her mother was still in the kitchen. “We can talk about it tonight.”

“Are you against having a child?”

“I’m incapable.” She says, looking at me to see if I would react strangely. I put the book on the coffee table, and wrap her in a tight hug, holding her for a few moments.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper in her ear, kissing the side of her head.

“Don’t be sorry,” she says, shaking her head, “I’ve known for a few years now, and it’s something that I’ve come to terms with.” Adena pulls back and puts her hands on my cheeks, “if you want to and are capable of carrying a child, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing you pregnant.”

“We can discuss this when we’re home.” I smile, kissing Adena softly.

“Okay.” She says kissing me again.

“Adena? Is that you?” An older woman asks, walking through the door.

“It is, how are you Ester?” Adena smiles, getting up to wrap the woman in a tight hug.

“Oh I missed you so much, you look wonderful.”

“Ester, this is my fiancée, Kat.” Adena says, it sounded odd being introduced as her fiancée, but right at the same time.

“Nice to meet you,” I smile.

“You’re mother said your girlfriend was coming last night and today you’re engaged.”

“She didn’t know we were engaged yet.” Adena smiles, wrapping her arm around my waist.

“Oh, well congratulations to you both. And it is nice to meet you Kat.” Ester smile politely before making her way upstairs.

“She isn’t as nice as Jasmine, and isn’t as open minded.” Adena informs me quietly.

“Oh, okay.”

“She’ll never be rude about it though.”

“Okay.” I nod.

“You’re going to get quiet. Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m fine. I want to go back to seeing your baby pictures.”

“You know this means I get to see yours when we get home.”

“I know.” I smile, as Adena kisses my cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

“The rain looks like it let up a bit from this morning, want to go for a walk?” Adena asks, I turn over in bed to see her standing over me with a smile, she sits down on the edge is the bed, leaning on her hand that was close to my back. “Although I know you’d much rather stay in bed and nap.” She teases, leaning down and kissing me.

“We can go for a walk.” I mumble, sitting up a bit.

“If you don’t want to, it’s fine, really.”

“I don’t want to be here with your mom and aunts. I want to be with you,” I say, stretching my arms over my head, “we’re only here for today anyway, I’d like to see a little bit of the city.”

“We aren’t going to see much, I just want to get out of here.” Adena says, putting on her hijab loosely. “I love my mother, but Jasmine and Ester are another story.”

“I can see that.”

“They’re overbearing.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to be rude.”

“No, you can be rude when it’s just us, they rub off on my mom and then she gets overbearing and I get anxious, it’s not a good mix. So, you’re going to come?”

“Of course.” I yawn, getting out of bed. I stand up with a smile, pulling Adena close to me. “You want to know something?”

“Always,” she says, brushing my hair from my face.

“I liked hearing you call me your fiancée earlier.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, it felt like validation that I made the right choice.” I smile, pulling her in for a kiss.

“We still have to tell your parents.”

“We will, when we’re home.”

“Okay, lets go.” Adena says, taking my hand in hers.

“Where are you girls off to?” Padma calls out from the living room.

“We’re just going for a walk, we’ll be home before dinner.”

“Okay, Love.” She calls out as Adena and I walk out the door. Adena wraps her arm around mine as she begins to lead the way down the fairly busy street.

“So where are we going?”

“No where specific.” Adena says, shaking her head as she pulls her bag onto her shoulder. “Like I said, I just needed to get out of there for a little while. I just want to go home, I miss our apartment, and our bed. I miss being in our bubble.” She says, stopping to kiss me. “I miss home.”

“I know, so do I. And I know the girls are going to freak out when we tell them.”

“We should set up dinner with them this weekend. Tell them together?”

“Sounds like a plan.” I smile, kissing her again before we continue our walk.

* * *

“Oh how I missed this bed.” I say, rushing into the apartment and jumping onto my bed, “well the bed in France was nice, but still.”

“I know what you mean,” Adena says, lying down beside me. “I’m going to shower, and then go down and do laundry.”

“Are you going to do mine?”

“No, you can come down and do yours,” Adena chimes as she gets out of bed.

“Is married life still going to consist of me doing my own laundry?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Damn it.” I tease, causing Adena to throw a dirty T-shirt at me when she opens our suitcase. “Really?”

“Kat, you’re a grown woman, you have to do things for yourself and laundry is one of them.”

“I know, I know.” I whine, walking over to Adena and wrapping my arms around her.

“What?” She whispers, placing her hands on my shoulders, laughing as I begin to kiss her neck. “Kat, I have to shower.”

“Are you objecting to my advance to join you?”

“Is that what this is?” She asks as I play with the bottom of her shirt, pulling it over her head.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I say, unbuttoning her jeans.

“I guess,” Adena teases as I push her towards the bathroom, “or you’re just taking my clothes off for fun.”

“That too,” I shrug, causing her to laugh. After what feels like an extremely long shower, which in all honesty it was, Adena and I were sitting on the couch sorting through our clothes to figure out what had to be done for laundry, “I think it was smart washing some of the stuff at your mother’s before we left.”

“I try to do it when I travel so I don’t have to do a ton when I’m home, except for what has to be taken to get dry cleaned.”

“Adena?”

“Yes?” She smiles, looking up at me from where she was hunched over the suitcase. “What is it love?”

“Can we talk about what you brought up yesterday?”

“You want to know why I can’t have children?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” she smiles, moving to sit closer to me, “it isn’t a big deal, it’s not like I had something down that damaged anything, I just happen to have an infantile uterus, it’s advised that I don’t have children because it would be a higher risk for me to have one than if I obviously didn’t have one. I don’t want to worry about complications with conceiving a child and then have it happen and worry about if everything will go right during child birth, so it’s selfish but a lot easier to say I can’t have children rather than saying it will be a risk for me to have a child.”

“I understand completely,” I say, taking her hands in mine, “that doesn’t mean we still can’t have a baby Adena running around.” I smile.

“You want a baby Adena? Well then I want a baby Kat.”

“So we’re not going to adopt anymore?”

“I think it will cost about the same no matter what we do,” Adena says, looking down at our hands, “I just want to make it clear that we aren’t moving to the suburbs, we are staying in the city and our children are going to be cultured no matter what.”

“Oh, for sure. You don’t have to worry about that. We will have to give up the loft though.”

“It’s a sacrifice that will be well worth it when the time comes.”

“And I guess that means I’m going to be carrying these gremlins.”

“We could do a surrogate, if you really don’t want to.”

“No, I think it would be an experience worth having, especially if it means I get to have a family with you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” I smiles, leaning in to kiss her. “I just hope we have girls.”

“You wouldn’t want a little boy?”

“If it happens, it happens, but I want girls more.”

“How many kids are we having?”

“Two,” I nod. “Adena Jr. and Kat Jr.,” I tease, causing Adena to roll her eyes.

“I like the name Amelia,” Adena says above a whisper, “I don’t know why, but I heard it once a long time ago and fell in love with that name. I always told myself if I had a daughter I would name her Amelia.”

“I like the name Kendall.”

“We’ll keep the A’s and K’s a thing?”

“Of course, and if it just so happens that we have a boy, I like the name Kaeden.” I smile.

“I like the name Armand.”

“It’s settled, our hypothetical children all have names.” I laugh, feeling Adena place her hands on my stomach. “You want me to have them, don’t you?” I whisper, running my fingers through her hair.

“Only if you want to, I don’t want to pressure you.”

“When we’re ready.” I say, holding her face in my hands and pulling her in for a kiss.

* * *

“Hi guys!” I coo when I open the door to see Jane and Sutton standing in the hallway. They both shriek, pulling me in for a hug.

“Hello girls.” Adena smiles, as she hugs each of them.

“Holy shit, you did it?” Sutton asks, catching Adena’s hand to look at her ring.

“Yes, we’re engaged,” I say with a smile, walking over and wrapping my arm around Adena. Sutton and Jane scream, causing Adena to hide her face in my neck while covering her ears. “Thank you for making us deaf, I will send you the medical bills.”

“Congratulations.” Jane coos, pulling me in for a hug. “Was it romantic?”

“Adena beat me to the punch, but it was memorable.”

“I want to see the rings,” Adena and I hold out our hands to Jane and Sutton, “holy shit Kat, you didn’t hold back did you?” Jane says, looking at Adena’s ring.

“No, I didn’t,” I smile, kissing the side of Adena’s head.

“Your ring is beautiful too, Kat. You two must have got what you were expecting in a way, no?”

“I knew Kat would go above and beyond, yes.”

“And I knew Adena would be simple, yet beautiful. Even though I didn’t know she was planning to propose the same time as me.”

“You’re not going to get over that minor detail, are you?” Adena chimes, walking back towards the stove.

“Nope, never. I will probably bring it up on our wedding day.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you to do that.”

“You two are my favorite couple, did I ever mention that?” Sutton says, filling her glass with the rosé she brought.

“A few hundred times at this point.” Adena says, smirking at her own sarcasm.

“Kat is clearly rubbing off on you.” Jane chimes, causing us all to laugh.

“I find that to be a sense of accomplishment, thank you.”

“Ha ha,” Adena says. The rest of the evening went by with the four of us having dinner while Sutton, Jane, and I discuss wedding plans and potential details. Some where throughout dinner, Adena moved her chair so she was directly next to me with her hand in mine, drawing patterns on my palm. She was oddly quiet compared to when the girls first got there.

“Are you okay?” I whisper in her ear when Jane and Sutton are caught up with each other.

“Yes, I am okay.” She nods, a tired smile on her face. I lean in and kiss her softly.

“You’re tired?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll kick them out, I’m tired too.” I say.

“Don’t be rude about it.”

“Hey, guys, Adena and I are tried, and it’s late. Time for you to get out.”

“Sorry for Kat’s forwardness,” Adena apologizes.

“I’m not, my girl and I are tired, and we have been traveling and all. I love you guys but.”

“It’s fine, I have an article I have to finish writing.” Jane says.

“And I have to get things together for Oliver tomorrow.” Sutton smiles. “Congratulations again to you higher, and keep us posted.”

“Of course,” Adena smiles. We all say our goodbyes and I insist on cleaning up the kitchen so Adena can to lie down. By the time I get to join her in bed, she is fast asleep. I climb in as quietly and slowly as I can, not wanting to disturb her, as soon as I lie down, I feel her wrap her arms around my waist, tucking her head under my chin. “Goodnight,” she mumbles into my chest.

“Goodnight, Love,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

* * *

I open my eyes and sit up in bed to see Adena is nowhere to be found, with a yawn, I get out of bed and walk over to the kitchen, seeing there was a note on the table. “Had to go into work early, I should be home early. I will call you when I can, have an amazing day, Love.” I read aloud. I fix myself a coffee and go to sit at the foot of my bed and I hear my phone ringing, I smile, seeing it’s Adena. “Hello, Love.”

“Did I wake you? I know you don’t have to be in today.”

“I just woke up not too long ago, and I read your note. How is work so far?”

“Work, I had to go Manhattan today, I had a few meetings.”

“That’s good, anything exciting?”

“I have a few showings coming up, I met with galleries.”

“You haven’t mentioned anything about galleries.”

“I took some extra photos when we were away that I didn’t need to use for work and I want to show them in a gallery, figured we could use some extra money.”

“We don’t need the money, Sweetheart.”

“I know, but with everything we’ve been talking about lately, I would like to have some extra finances. I don’t know about you, but I want to maybe start looking for a new place as well.”

“I don’t want to give up the loft yet,” I say, looking around at my home for the past few years.

“I know baby, but I like to plan ahead.”

“That seems like too far ahead though.”

“We’ll discuss it when I get home,” Adena says.

“Okay. Have a good day, I love you.”

“I love you too, don’t be upset. I didn’t mean to upset you either.”

“You didn’t. I know you’re just the type to be prepared for things.”

“I’ll see you later, Love.” Adena says before hanging up. I look around the apartment, annoyed by the lack of cleanliness.

* * *

“Hello?” I hear Adena call out, I look over the railing and see her placing a few bags on the counter. “Kat, have you been cleaning?”

“Yeah.” I say, watching her look up at me. “I’m going through my clothes now.”

“I see, is that why there is a growing pile down here?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been throwing things over.”

“Are you okay?” She asks, taking off her hijab and coming up to put it on her side of the closet.

“I just needed to keep busy and I was getting annoyed.”

“I see that. You dusted and rearranged all the shelves by the door and in the kitchen, I smelt the bleach in the bathroom too,” Adena teases, taking off her clothes and putting on something comfortable. The moment her shirt is over her head, I get caught up in Adena. It never takes much for me to get lost in her, I run my eyes up and down her body before looking in her eyes, seeing a smile on her face as she walks towards me. “You’re always staring at me.”

“You’re fucking hot, what do you want me to do?” I say, causing Adena to let out a low chuckle, I pull her into me when she gets close and kiss her hard.

“I think you have a general idea,” Adena whispers in my ear, “but I’d much rather be in our bed,” she adds, walking backwards towards the stairs. I chase after her, smiling as she screams playfully, we both reach the bottom at the same time and begin kissing each other as we make our way towards the bed. I feel my knees brush against it and push her back, falling on top of her as softly as I could.

“I want to try something new,” I say in between kisses.

“Okay,” Adena whines as I kiss her neck, “what is it?”

“You have to promise you’ll listen.”

“Of course.” I pull back and hover over her for a moment, looking down at her with a smirk before getting up from the bed and running back upstairs. I come back to see Adena propped up on her elbows, watching me intently. I hold up the items and watch as her eyes widen a bit.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“What sparked this?” She asks with a sensual smirk. “I’m intrigued.”

“I don’t know, just bored. Sometimes you have to switch it up,” I shrug. “Hands above your head.” I whisper, smiling as she complies, I take the old tie I found while cleaning and tied her wrists together, just so she had the idea of where I stood without hurting her of course. “Do you want the blindfold too?”

“Okay.” She whispers, I see and hear her swallow.

“Are you nervous?”

“No, no.” Adena whisper, shaking her head, “I’m excited. Trust me.”

“I do, do you trust me?” I whispers into her ear, feeling her shiver a bit.

“Always.” Adena whines.

 

-Adena POV-

I can’t see Kat, but I can feel her around me, and hear different things she’s doing. I can tell she’s standing over me, the distinct sound of fabric hits the floor before I feel her hands at the buttons of my pants before she slowly pulls them down. “Are you okay?” I hear her whisper in one ear, “you’ll let me know if you aren’t, right?” she whispers in the other.

“I want you to touch me already,” I whine, causing Kat to chuckle low in my ear.

“Patience, Love.”

“Kat, I swear.”

“You’re cute when you’re frustrated,” she laughs again, kissing down my neck and across my chest. “Shit,” Kat groans when she hears my phone ringing from someone in the apartment.

“Let it go to voicemail.” I say in a rushed tone, whining when I feel Kat kissing my body again as her fingers begin to tease me. I feel myself come at an embarrassingly quick pace, causing Kat to hum against me before kissing me deeply, I moan when I taste myself on her lips. She rests her forehead against mine, pushing the blindfold up before doing so, we stare at each other, my eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness of the room around me as I catch my breath. “Can you untie me?” I whisper, smiling when Kat starts to smirk.

“I guess.” She teases, kissing me again as she unties my wrists, once I’m free I caress her cheeks, running my thumbs across them. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t know you were into bondage.”

“I didn’t know you would be into it either.”

“At least we know it’s on the table now.” I chime, pulling her down for a kissing, flipping up so she was on her back. I straddle her waist, placing my hands on her chest as I look down at her.

“What?” Kat whispers, running her hands over my sides.

“Do you want to have a big wedding?”

“If we could run away to Vegas and elope, I would be very happy.”

“Really?”

“Honestly.” She nods.

“I can’t do that to my mother.”

“I know, and my parents would be upset too. Speaking of, I still haven’t shared the news with them.”

“Well, we aren’t sharing the news with them any time soon.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m not finished with you yet.” I smile, leaning down and kissing her with as much passion as I could.

 

-Kat POV-

“Whose idea was it to have dinner with my parent to tell them?” I say when Adena walks into the bathroom, wrapping her arms around me from behind. “Why couldn’t we just call them?”

“Baby, everything is going to be okay, you’re nervous over nothing.” She says, kissing my neck. “Why are you nervous?”

“What if they don’t approve of us getting married, what if they think we’re too young? What if they resent that I never talked to them about it?”

“What if you heard the insanity that you were just saying?” Adena chimes, turning me around to face her, “what if everything you just said is you being irrational, and your parent are going to be happy that you’re going to get married to the one woman you are crazy about? What if they are going to be the happiest and proudest parents ever because they know you will be happy, and supported, and raise a family with someone who loves you more than life itself?”

“You’re right.” I sigh, resting my forehead against hers.

“I love you, and I want to spend my life with you, nothing is going to change that.”

“I know,” I say, pulling back to see her smiling at me for a moment when there was a knock on the door, “let’s go.” I take Adena’s hand in mine and go to answer the door.

“Hello girls,” my mom says, pulling us in for a hug before my dad did the same.

“Come in,” Adena smiles. My parents walk in ahead of her and make themselves comfortable on the couch, “do you want to just tell them now, or after we have lunch?”

“We can tell them now,” I say quietly. Adena takes my hand in hers as we walk over to sit l the other couch. “So, there was a reason we called you here for lunch.”

“Aside from missing us of course.” Mom chimes.

“Of course, Susan,” Adena smiles, “I’ll just come out and say it, Kat and I are engaged.”

“Oh my. Really?” Mom smiles. “When? Where? I want to see the ring, or rings,”

“When we were away in Paris.” I smile, holding up my hand to her while Adena did the same.

“Congratulations girls. Your rings are gorgeous.” She chimes, standing up to hug each of us, “I am so proud of you,” she whispers in my ear.

“Thank you, Mom. Dad?” I say, looking at him.

“I support it.” He says quietly.

“But?”

“But, do you feel like it’s something you want to do so young?”

“Yes, I love Adena more than I thought I would ever love someone, and I don’t want to lose that.”

“You two haven’t even been together that long.”

“Marcus, you’re acting like you and I were together for years before you proposed. We were around Kat’s age when we got engaged.”

“I get that you’re only doing this because I’m your only child and all, but you have to separate a little bit, Dad. I’ve been out of the house for years, I have a great job, Adena and I are both successful in our own rights. There is no reason why we should be chastised for wanting to get married.”

“I’m sorry, Kat, I am happy for you, extremely happy.” He says, getting up and walking over to hug me tightly, “congratulations, Sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You as well, Adena. Congratulations. I am proud of you both.”

“Thank you, Marcus.” Adena smiles as he goes to hug her.

“Welcome to the Edison family.” He smiles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr at juli-with-a-chance if you have any suggestions on what you would like this to be or criticism on things you may not agree with. I’m open to everything in order to make my writing better.


	10. Chapter 10

-Kat POV-

I wake up to a small hand patting my cheek, I open my eyes and see a bright eyed little girl smiling at me, “hi Mommy,” the little girl chimes.

“Hi, Baby,” I yawn pulling the girl to sit on my stomach. “You’re getting big.”

“Big girl, Mommy!”

“Yes, such a big girl, Amelia.”

“Look like Maman.”

“You do, you’re beautiful.”

“Kat, Love.” Adena chimes from somewhere in the apartment. “Kat.”

* * *

“Kat.” I hear Adena says, followed by a kiss to my forehead. I open my eyes to see Adena smiling at me.

“I was dreaming,” I mumble, sitting up at bit.

“Was it a good dream?” Adena asks, running her fingers through my hair.

“It was.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well, it featured our future daughter.”

“Was she beautiful?” Adena smiles.

“The most beautiful kid I’ve ever seen.”

“Who did she look like?”

“You.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her.

“And what name did we settle on?” Adena whispers against my lips.

“Amelia.” I say, kissing her again and pulling her on top of me more.

“Kat. I have to go to work,” Adena whines, fighting to stop kissing me, “and you do too.”

“I’ll just have to be late again.”

“I have a meeting.” Adena says, getting out of my grip with a playful smile. “I love you, but I have to go.”

“You’re not going to come say goodbye?”

“No, you’ll tackle me into bed,” she laughs.

“I love you too, see you after work.” I say, accepting defeat.

“I’ll meet you at Scarlet after work today.”

“Why?”

“I have to go look at a couple of galleries and I want you to come with me. My showing is Saturday.”

“I almost forgot, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Love.” She chimes, blowing me a kiss as she walks to the door.

* * *

I walk into the office and make my way towards my desk when I’m pulled violently in the other direction. “Can I out my stuff down,” I ask as Jane continues to drag me along, “I have news too.”

“Fine, hurry up. I have to find Sutton anyway,” Jane says. Once she finds Sutton she comes back over to me and pulls at me again.

“I’m obviously following you, can you let me go?” I whine once we hit the closet door.

“What have you all aggressive?” Sutton asks.

“I have news.”

“So do I.” I chimes, sitting down in one of the chairs.

“I get to go first,” Jane says, “I met someone.”

“Is that why you haven’t been home?” Sutton asks, looking at herself in the mirror holding you different dresses to herself.

“Yes.”

“Is he rich? Is he like a doctor or something, you wouldn’t be that excited if he was normal.”

“He is a doctor.”

“Wonderful, happy for you and all but I had a dream last night.” I start, when Sutton chimes in.

“Was it a sex dream?” She asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

“No, I don’t need to dream about that,” I say, laughing when Sutton gives me a high five, “I had a dream though, and apparently I had a daughter.”

“Do you even want kids?” Jane asks, somewhat annoyed that we’ve moved on to me, but also intrigued.

“Before I met Adena, I wasn’t into it. Even when we first started dating, I wasn’t into it. But then we got engaged and I saw a few of Adena’s baby pictures,” I smiled.

“Have you talked to Adena about it?” Sutton asks, still imagining how she would look in different things.

“We’re having two kids, preferably girls. They will be named Amelia and Kendall. If we just so happen to have a boy, he’ll be named either Armand or Kaeden.” I say looking over at Jane and Sutton to see confused looks on their faces before they smile.

“Are you going to call Armand, Armie?” Sutton coos.

“I don’t know, I don’t think Adena would be up for nicknames,” I shrug.

“But your name is a shortened version of Kathryn.”

“But she’s always known me as Kat. I don’t know, if we have a son and name him Armand, I’ll let you know.”

“Can I have the loft?” Sutton asks.

“Sorry, but we aren’t getting rid of it yet.”

“By the time you’re going to get rid of it, I may be able to afford it.”

“My parents own it outright. There is no rent.”

“We’ll discuss it a different time.”

“Who’s going to have the kids?” Jane asks quietly.

“I might. Well we have no choice, it’s either me or a surrogate.”

“What about Adena?”

“Adena can’t have kids,” I say, scratching the top of my head.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Jane says quietly.

“Yeah.” I say quietly.

“Can I be the fairy god mother?” Sutton chimes.

“I’ll talk to Adena about that,” I laugh. The rest of the work day seemed to go by rather quickly, meetings went well, and no one had any issues as far as needing to reprimand the social media depart. I begin to make my way downstairs when my phone starts ringing. “Hello, Love, I’m making my way down now.”

“Okay, I’m waiting for you in the lobby, and I have a coffee for you,” Adena says, I can hear the smile I her voice.

“I love you,” I smile, pushing the button on the elevator. I look up to see Adena smiling at me. “How do you have such great service in this elevator?” I ask, hanging up my phone and putting it in my bag before kissing her hello.

“I don’t know,” Adena shrugs.

“We’re going to have to look at your plan when we get home, I may have to switch. You didn’t have to come up here, I would have been right down.”

“I didn’t want to wait any longer.”

“Thank you for the coffee.” I say, kissing her again. “Where are we going?”

“I have a meeting in Midtown, and the Upper East Side. I think I’m going to go with the viewing on the East Side. I think they would pay better.”

“Smart.” I chime, kissing the side of her head.

“Do you think we could afford to move there?”

“You want one of those brownstones don’t you?”

“Yes, I’ve always loved them.”

“We might be able to, but I doubt any are on the market right now.”

“When we’re ready there might be.”

“Then we’ll look. We could always move to a brownstone in Brooklyn.”

“Not the same,” Adena shakes her head as we make our way into the cab.

“Okay, I mean, it would be easier to relocate to Manhattan for me at least, you’d have to commute back and forth again,” I say as she gives the driver the address.

“I think I would want to stay home if we have kids,” she says, sitting back and taking my hand.

“You want to be the stay-at-home-Mom?”

“I could always freelance and go back to gallery work? I enjoyed doing it more than having a boss and deadlines, I miss being my own boss.”

“You want to have kids right away, don’t you?”

“Maybe within a year or two. I feel like we aren’t getting any younger and I want to start a family. I want to settle down and stay still for a little bit, I don’t want to work, I don’t want to worry, I want to have a family and live in the moment of watching them grow up.”

“I understand, you have had a lot go on in your life, you’ve worked hard to become successful and you have the right to settle for a moment.”

“The thought of running to Vegas is still in the back of my mind. Just get things moving, get married already.”

“What about your mom?”

“We can fly her out and your parents, Jane and Sutton. Those are the only people the matter,” Adena points out.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home.” I say, looking down at our hands. After viewing both galleries and deciding to get something to eat for dinner, we ended up getting home later than anticipated. Adena walked into the apartment and immediately went to change into something comfort while I went to shower. After showering quickly, I walk out to see Adena curled up in bed, reading through some magazine, I make my way upstairs and put on something comfortable before climbing into bed with her. “Maybe we should start looking at places.”

“Are you going along with the idea of being prepared?”

“Yeah, I mean, I loved this place for five years. And only within the past year it actually felt like a home, but I think that was because of you. It doesn’t matter where we live, home is with you and that’s all that matters.”

“You have the potential to be the sweetest person in the entire world.”

“If that an insult?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow and causing Adena to chuckle.

“No, what I mean by it is that you have the potential to have such a way with words that you touch me here,” she says, placing her hand on her chest.

“Your boobs? I know.” I tease, causing her to shove me playfully.

“Your humor is something I hope gets passed on.”

“Really? I though you were going to get annoyed by it.”

“I do, but I feel like everyone needs a good sense of humor.”

“Do you think we moved too fast?”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“No, I’m not. I’m just wondering how you feel?”

“I feel like we moved at the right pace for us, and that no matter what we are strong enough to work things out, communicate properly, and above all, we love each other more than anything. We have nothing to second guess, nothing to regret, nothing to dwell on.” She says, holding my face in her hands, “are you second guessing anything?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure.”

“I love you, Kat.”

“I love you too.”

 

*One Year Later*

“Kat?”

“Yes?” I call out, folding clothes and putting them in boxes. Everything was coming into place, Adena and I were in the process of moving to a new place in Chelsea. Close enough for me to get to work sooner, and in a decent enough area for Adena to network and freelance, while also just being a few minutes from different galleries. Although giving up the loft was bittersweet, it was a chapter that needed to close in order for the next one to open. Our wedding was set for the Summer. We decided on a destination wedding or sorts in the Hamptons. A small gathering of close friends and our families, not too many people, seeing as we wanted it to be intimate and just enough to satisfy everyone else, seeing as we would rather have eloped. All in all everything was falling into place to being the next step in my life with Adena.

“Sweetheart, are you still sorting through clothes?”

“You know my wardrobe is vast and I have a lot of things to go through, besides I plan on giving some stuff away.”

“Well, Sutton and Jane are already at the house, they were offering to help paint.”

“Okay, let them. I trust they won’t screw that up.”

“The furniture is supposed to get delivered soon too.”

“And they will be there to make sure it’s all there. Relax, Love.” I say, standing up and wrapping her in a hug. “Everything is going to be alright, baby.” I kiss her quickly.

“I know, but I still worry.”

“Don’t, okay. Everything is fine. We found a house to make a home, in a perfect location. Big enough to start our family, we’re getting married in a few weeks, things are looking up. We have our honeymoon to look forward to. Just relax.”

“Okay.” She says, taking a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I smile, kissing her softly. “This is all new to us both, and we are doing fairly well at it all I think.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” I chime, kissing her quickly.

* * *

We walk into the house to hear music coming from somewhere upstairs. Adena and I look around to see the entry way and hallway towards the kitchen were painted perfectly by Sutton and Jane. We walk through and see the living room was always painted the color we wanted. We then end up on the kitchen, which was remodeled prior to us purchasing the house, one of the reasons Adena fell in love with the house was because of the kitchen, how bit it was. Although anything was bigger than the kitchen in the loft. “I’m going to see how they’re doing upstairs.” I say to Adena, kissing her quickly.

“Okay, Love,” she whispers, kissing me again. I make my way upstairs and towards the back of the house we’re our room was. I peak in to see Sutton and Jane painting the room the deep purple color Adena and I agreed on.

“Wow, if you guys ever fail at Scarlet you have a different calling.” I say, crossing my arms as I walk into the room.

“I think we could make a real living doing this,” Sutton teases, “those boxes are your furniture by the way, I know I’m bit putting any of it together, so.”

“Adena and I will do it, thank you though for everything else. You guys did an awesome job painting downstairs.”

“Thanks.” Jane chimes, “I have a question.”

“Yes?”

“The two spare rooms you want the same color?”

“Yeah, Adena wants them blue, seeing as it’s a calming color and perfect for a baby’s room.”

“Planning ahead already?”

“That’s why we bought this place, you know that.” I say, rolling my eyes at Sutton.

“I still can’t believe it though, here I though Jane was going to be the first one to get married between us.”

“Well, I’m happy I was beat out by Kat.” Jane smiles.

“You’ll end up being next though, I know it, the way you and Ben are together,” I chime, causing Jane to blush a bit. “Awe, Tiny Jane.” I tease.

“I hope that’s the case.”

“We are going to talk about this later,” Sutton says, waving the paint roller around.

“If you get paint on these wood floors, Adena will kill you.”

“And I’m not a violent person,” Adena chimes, walking into the room, “but Kat is right, I will kill you,” she smiles, wrapping her arm around my waist, “I fell in love with this house because if the floors, and the kitchen.”

“Facts,” I chime, draping my arm around her shoulder, “don’t piss her off.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sutton says, saluting Adena and I.

“Is that the furniture?” Adena asks, pointing to the stack of IKEA boxes.

“Yeah, it looks like the bed and the dressers.”

“What about the bedside tables?”

“They’re in the boxes in the hallway.” Jane points out.

“We’re going to be here all night putting it together, aren’t we?” I whisper in Adena’s ear.

“I’ll make sure we have enough coffee.” She chimes, kissing me quickly.

“Remind me again why we decided on putting it together ourselves?”

“Premarital bonding.”

“Hasn’t the last year been premarital bonding?”

“But if we can put together furniture without losing it, then we will be strong in our marriage.”

“That sounds like some bullshit I would say,” I laugh.

“I know, it does. I’m becoming Americanized,” she says with a playful look of being mortified.

“I love her, do you guys love her?”

“Maybe not as much as you do,” Sutton chimes.

“Yeah, I second that. But we clearly love her enough to paint her house,” Jane says.

“Which I appreciate so much, you both have no idea how much I appreciate all of your help.”

“You should just name your first born after one of us rather than the name you already chose, then I would know how appreciated I was,” Sutton smiles, finishing up the wall her was painting.

“I’ll consider it for a middle name.” Adena chimes.

“Amelia Sutton El-Amin-Edison. Sounds long,” I say, looking over to see a stand look on Adena!s face, “what?”

“Nothing,” she shakes her head, “we’ll talk about it when we’re putting our bed together.”

“Okay.” I say, rubbing her shoulder before she disappears out of the room. I stand there for a moment before following her, I see her walking back down the hall towards one of the spare bedrooms. I walk in behind her and see her standing in the middle of the room, looking around, almost as if she was rethinking something, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just excited.” Adena walks over to me and wraps me in a hug, looking up at me with so much adoration in her eyes it was going to make my heart explode. She leans in and kisses me with more love than I feel she has ever kissed me with in nearly two years.

“I’m excited too,” I mumble, resting my forehead against hers.

 

-Adena POV-

“Stupid shit!” I heard Kat shout as I make my way up the stairs with a cup of coffee.

“Love, I told you if you got annoyed to take a break.” I say, handing her a coffee and sitting in the floor next to her. It was late, nearly midnight and we were halfway through putting the bed together, we already finished the two side tables and the dresser.

“But I want to get it over with,” she says, taking the coffee from me and taking a big sip.

“Well, let’s take a break.”

“What bothered you before about what I said to Sutton?”

“About naming our kid after her? That didn’t bother me, in fact, nothing you said bothered me and I didn’t know why you would think that. I just didn’t know you wanted to give them our last names.”

“Well, I don’t want to change my name and I know you don’t want to change yours, so hyphenating it seemed best. I mean yeah they may have a long last name.” Kat shrugs.

“And you want my surname first?”

“Yes, it sounds better than Edison-El-Amin.”

“I suppose,” I shrug, “so, I was doing some research.”

“I don’t know if I should be concerned or excited.”

“Excited, maybe.” I chuckle, smiling wider when I see Kat smile. “I found a cryobank near Midtown.”

“That’s exciting, but isn’t it soon?”

“I was reading the other day and the process could take a long to to make sure my eggs are extracted and all of that, and some extractions could be less than others.”

“Thinking ahead,” Kat nods.

“Always, and I want to make sure we find the perfect donor, which knowing both of us will take a while.”

“That is a fact, but I still want to wait until we get back from Peru.”

“Okay.” I say, kissing her quickly. 


	11. Chapter 11

-Kat POV-

“Sweetheart, you look so beautiful.” Mom says, walking up behind me as I stood in front of the full length mirror, playing with the necklace I had on.

“Thank you, Mom.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m nervous as all hell though.” I say, turning to face her. Today is the day Adena and I are getting married, we were on opposite ends of a beautiful beach front home in the Hamptons that we rented just for the weekend.

“I was nervous when I married your father. I felt like I was going to throw up the entire time, and then when I saw him waiting for me, all of those feelings went away and I was so happy.”

“Well that’s how I feel.” I laugh.

“Well, everything will be okay, and Adena is going to be thrilled to see you. This suit was the right choice over a dress.”

“Thank you, Mommy.”

“I love you, Kat.”

“I love you too,” I say, pulling her in for a hug, “did you see Dad beforehand?”

“Do you want to see Adena?”

“I would like to, yes.”

“I’ll let her know you’ll meet her in the backyard?”

“Thank you.” I smile. I make my way outside and wait for Adena out by the pool.

“Kat.” I hear Adena says, the breathy tone in her voice reminding me of the first time I’ve ever met her. I turn around to see her standing at the other side of the pool. It took every ounce of my being to not dive into the pool to get to her quicker, I chose to run around to her instead, pulling her in my arms as soon as I was close to her. “Hi.” She whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek.

“You’re stunning.” I say, looking at her in her simple, strapless white gown.

“So do you, I think a suit was a good choice for you, Love.”

“And your hair is so nice curled, I can’t. I’m fighting everything to not kiss you right now. You’re so beautiful.” Adena smiles, resting her forehead against mine when there was the sound of a camera clicking. “Who is taking our pictures?”

“A friend of mine from work, Coco.”

“Is it weird to be on this side of the camera?”

“A little, if I’m being honest,” she says, placing her hands on my cheeks, “but I know she will do a great job,” she adds, kissing me.

“And if she doesn’t?”

“I’ll have to kick her ass.” Adena says in that breathy tone of hers, pulling me in for a hug as we laugh. Adena pulls back first, smoothing out the shoulders on my suite, “are you ready?”

“Of course, I’ve been ready.”

“Okay.” She says gently, taking my hand in hers. “A couple more pictures first, we have the time.”

“Okay.” We take a few more photos, most of which are candid as we talk about the morning. The ceremony seemed to go by in a flash. Everything as perfect, and the moment we both said ‘I do’ made everything fall into place. Adena and I stood there for a moment after we kissed and stared at me, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

* * *

“Hello, Mrs. El-Amin-Edison.” Adena whispers in my ear, wrapping her arms around. Me from behind. I turn in her arms and smile, kissing her.

“Hello.” I whisper, kissing her again as she pulls me away from the people I was talking to. “You’re getting antsy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, very much so.”

“You think anyone would notice if we left?”

“That is a possibility, but at this point, I don’t really care,” Adena explains with a smile.

“What about your mom?”

“She left not too long ago, she was getting tired, she said she didn’t want to bother you and she would see you tomorrow before we leave.”

“Where are we going to go?”

“What about your parents?”

“Oh please, my mom is drunk at this point, and my dad is talking to some of my relatives, he won’t even notice if we left,” I say, waving my hand.

“I never thought we would leave out reception early,” Adena laughs as we begin walking back towards the house.

“We aren’t really leaving, we’re just relocating our celebration inside.” I say, walking backwards as she holds my hands.

“You make a fair point.”

“I know.” I chime, causing Adena to chuckle as she pulls me in for a kiss.

“Can you get me out of this dress?” She whispers in my ear as we reach the back patio of the house. I look at her to see a smirk playing across her face as she pulls away from me completely and makes her way into the house, a teasing way about her.

“You ask me to help you and you’re running away?” I tease, following her up the stairs towards one of the bedrooms.

“Come catch me,” she challenges, running up the stairs with a laugh as I chase her.

* * *

The trip to Peru was priceless, something I would never forget, especially since Adena took as many pictures at two memory cards would hold. Once we got home, it was a bit of a process to get back into working and having to hire a few new people. The only good thing that came out of going back to work was being up for a pay raise, which was coming just in time for us to start trying for a family. I’m sat at my desk, going through several applicants and resumés, trying to find the perfect people for my team. I take my glasses off when I hear my phone start ringing, I look over to see it was Adena and I smile, “hey, Love.”

“Hey, how is work?”

“I have a migraine coming on, so.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” she coos, “do you want me to bring you anything?”

“No, I’m okay. I’m going to go down and get some coffee so that may help,” I say, getting up from my desk, “have you called that cryo-place yet?”

“I was going to wait until you were ready to start looking at our options.”

“Isn’t there like a catalog we can look through of potential baby daddies?”

“I think so,” she says with a laugh, “would you like me to call and see?”

“If you want, I think we’re ready to start. I feel like I’m ready to start the process.”

“We can talk more about it at home, I have to make an appointment with the gynecologist any way to start the process.”

“Just let me know the dates and times for things and I’ll take off accordingly.”

“Okay, Love. We can talk about this more later like we said.”

“Okay.” I say, not being able to hold back the smile forming on my face.

“I will see you at home.”

“Of course. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

I walk through the door, putting my keys in the bowl and hanging up my jacket in the closet. Since moving to our new house, these little things were done at Adena’s request seeing how she wanted to maintain order and organization in our new home. “Hey, Babe!” I call out, kicking off my shoes.

“Hello.” Adena chimes, walking in from the living room. She smiles, kissing me quickly, “how was work? Did your headache go away?”

“It’s still there, but not as bad as earlier. How was your day?”

“Great, Coco finally got our wedding photos to me.”

“It took her long enough. Did she edit them?”

“No, I wouldn’t let her, she claimed to have lost the memory card and that’s why she couldn’t get them to me until now,” Adena rolls her eyes, “I was editing some of them, would you like to see?”

“Of course,” I smile when she takes my hand in hers and leads me towards her desk in the corner of the living room, thankfully the space was big enough to be a partial office space for Adena’s computers and printers, as well as having enough shelf space for all of their books and cameras. I forgot just how much stuff she did have from when she moved into the loft with me. The only things that were bought new was out bedroom furniture, everything else was out of storage, primarily all of Adena’s ornate furnishings she accumulated over the years. She sits down behind her computer and I stand over her, looking at the photos of us from when we first saw each other by the pool.

“I feel as if they are better in black and white, rather than color. But just these few, the ones with our parents I like in color. What do you think?”

“I think whatever you like, I will like. You’re the professional,” I say, kissing the side of her head, “but the black and whites I totally agree with.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” she says, looking up and kissing me, “do you want the ones with you, Sutton, and Jane in black and white?”

“Can I see how they look before you print them?”

“Of course, I’ll let you know when I get to those, I’m trying to stay in order.”

“Okay, I’m going to go change.”

“When you get back down I want to talk to you about something.”

“Alright.” I run up stairs and change into something comfortable, pulling up my hair and putting on my glasses. I make my way back downstairs to see Adena still sitting at her computer, only this time she’s a little more intent in what she was looking at, she looks up at me and smiles, waving me over.

“Come here.”

“What are you editing this time?”

“I’m not, I was looking at this website and we can look at potential baby daddies, as you put it.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun. Do you want a drink while we research potential baby daddies?”

“Soda with lime, please,” She smiles at me, leaning in to kiss me. I get up and walking into the kitchen, making us both the same thing. I walk in and hand her her glass, “you can drink if you want.”

“I still have a headache and drinking will add to it.”

“Okay. So are we looking for anything specific?”

“Healthy, smart. Those are the only two things I could care about.”

“What about ethnic background?” Adena asks, resting her head in her hand and her elbow on the desk.

“I didn’t think about that,” I say, looking into my glass, “I don’t know.”

“Well, we can find someone who is biracial, like you. We could find someone who is Persian, like me. But I think if we want the kids to be genetically connected in some way, then it may be a little hard to choose, and pretty expensive.”

“But if we were to adopt they wouldn’t have been genetically connected, unless we adopted siblings.”

“That’s a fair point, but I think for the sake of having children of our own, I would like them to share something through a donor then.”

“We can looks at Persian donors.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, I would rather have kids that look more like you anyway.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I just feel like I would want a family that isn’t so mixed, and they wouldn’t have to feel like they are rejecting either of us in their life when they have to fill out the ethnicity section on those forms, they could at lease say they are middle eastern, or whatever it is.”

“You don’t want our children to grow up feeling how you felt having two parents that are racially different?” Adena asks quietly, I nod not wanting to make eye connect with her. “Sweetheart,” she says gently, pulling me in to her.

“It is what it is, I don’t want our children feeling like they should please one of us and hurt the other. I want them to be happy and proud of who they are without having to make a choice.”

“We can do this another night.”

“No, lets do it now, let’s get everything in order so at least we don’t have to dwell on it.”

“Are you dwelling in the fact that we are going to have a family?”

“Don’t you think it’s too soon? We’ve only been married for three months.”

“But we’ve been together for two years.”

“And now we’re talking about having children, isn’t the next step usually a dog?”

“Where is this coming from, I thought you were ready and wanted to have kids?”

“I don’t know how, this seems like a harder process than I thought.”

“What’s hard about it? I want to talk about this, you aren’t going to run away,” she says when I get up from where I was sitting, I start pacing the living room.

“What if we are horrible parents? What if we have kids, and they resent us when they get older for being raised in a queer home? What if something happens during childbirth and I have a near death thing or die? What if there is something wrong with the baby?”

“Kat.”

“What if we get divorced for whatever reason and the kids have to live in a broken home, who gets them on holidays? You would get them for the Muslim holidays, of course, but then what if one of those holidays overlaps with Christmas or something, then who gets them?”

“Kat.”

“What if we end up having a kid with special needs after our first child, then the eldest is going to grow up hating us for not giving them as much attention as they needed because their younger sibling needed all they attention we would give them.”

“Kathryn!” Adena shouts, getting me out of my head. I turn to see her standing there, rubbing her temples as she takes a deep breath.

“What?”

“Are you listening to yourself?” She asks, looking at me through narrow eyes, “do you hear how ridiculous you sound?”

“No, but that’s how I feel.”

“How you feel is okay, I’m not doing to deny you that,” Adena says as she walks towards me, “but the fact that you aren’t making any sense whatsoever is something I am going to call you out on.”

“What if we aren’t ready?”

“I am ready to have a family, Kat. I want to have a family with you. I want to be a mother and I want you to be with me through this journey of life,” she says, taking my face in her hands, “I love you, and I want to go through this with you. I know you are scared, and uncertain, but you are ready, above everything else I know you are ready.”

“I’m not ready to gain weight, or be moody, or cranky all the time. I’m not ready for my back to hurt, there is no chic pregnancy clothes. They aren’t fashion forward in any way. I don’t want to wear elastic waist jeans, and sweatpants all the time.” I whine, causing Adena laugh.

“Love, you are very irrational,” she chuckles, pulling me in for a slow kiss.

“I don’t think I am.” I mumble as she smiles at me.

“We can talk about this another day, if you are this upset by it.”

“You know I get caught up in my head some times.”

“I do, and I understand why you get caught up I you head. Albeit frustrating, but I understand why it happens.”

“That’s one of the reasons I love you, you’re understanding.”

“Well I hoped you didn’t marry me just for my looks and charm.”

“No, no those are two of the prime reasons,” I tease, pulling her in for a kiss, “your beauty, and your charm.”

“Well your looks were the main reason I even came up to you that day.”

“This is news to me.”

“I didn’t care if you were gay or straight, I just knew I needed to talk to you.” Adena smiles.

“Why have you waited so long to tell me that?”

“I don’t know, something I wanted to keep to myself.” She shrugs.

“What else did you think?”

“I knew you were going to be in my life, I don’t know why, but I knew it deep down.”

“I felt the same way,” I smile, kissing her again.

“Do you feel better?”

“A bit.”

“Do you want to look through the donors, or?”

“Can we go upstairs and do it, I want to lie down.”

“Of course.” Adena chimes, kissing me quickly. I make sure everything I locked downstairs before I make my way towards our room.

“This guy is a doctor, and his parents were doctors.” I say as Adena walks into the room with a bowl of ice cream, she climbs into bed with my and looks at the computer screen.

“He’s a little funny looking, don’t you think?” She asks, scrunching up her nose.

“I suppose.” I shrug as she feeds me a spoonful of ice cream.

“How about him?”

“The one on the right?”

“Yeah, he’s cute,” Adena chimes.

“He’s a filmmaker.”

“He’s at least creative.”

“His baby picture is cute.”

“It says his dad is biracial and his mother is middle eastern.”

“He’s basically what we want our child to be.” Adena chimes.

“He would be the result if we were straight and were having kids.”

“Well, I think he’s a contender. He has no poor family health history. He went to NYU, so he’s driven and hardworking, which I feel is a genetic trait. We should consider him.”

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t. Or that we aren’t.” We continue looking through potential donors, some better than others, but none of them were as prefect to Adena and I as the filmmaker.

“Are we setting for the filmmaker, what’s his name even?”

“Tan.” I say, looking through his profile again. “I think he’s the best baby daddy.” I chime while Adena leans in and kisses me, her lips still taste of vanilla ice cream, even though we finished it a long while ago. I move the laptop to the bedside table before Adena moves to straddle my waist.

“I love you.” She whispers against my lips.

“I love you, too.”

“Are we settled then?” Adena asks, sitting up straight.

“As far as our donor, yes,” I smile, running my hands up Adena’s soft thighs.

“Good, I’ll call in the morning and make appointments.”

* * *

The whole process ended up taking a little over three months. We decided to just have me become impregnated by the doctor first, and have a couple of Adena’s eggs fertilized for when we ready to have another. Adena and I were standing in the bathroom, patiently waiting for results of the pregnancy test I had just taken. I held Adena as she rests her face in the crook of my neck while we wait for the alarm to go off, we both jump at the sound, I turn off the timer and look at Adena, “do you want to look?”

“No, you look,” she says, pushing at me. I take a deep breath, walking over to the side of the bathtub where we left the test to do its thing. I look down at it, picking it up and playing to Adena’s nervousness, “what is it?”

“I don’t know what it says,” I say, squinting, “I don’t have my glasses, and I forgot to put my contacts in this morning.”

“How could you forget?”

“You made me pee on this as soon as I woke up, I didn’t have time to think of anything else.”

“Oh give it to me.” Adena says, taking it from my hands, before she had a chance to look at it, I step close to her ear.

“It’s positive.” I whisper, smiling at the range of emotions that cross her face.

“You’re such a jerk.” She says through gritted teeth, shoving me playfully as she pulls me in for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I smile, holding her face in my hands and brushing away the tears in her cheeks, “happy tears?”

“The happiest,” she says, pulling me in for a kiss again, “this is the start of our family,” Adena whispers, placing her hand on my lower abdomen. 


	12. Chapter 12

-Adena POV-

I come home from work and walk into the living room to see Kat sleeping in the sofa with her laptop on the coffee table and her iPad resting in her small, but noticeable baby bump. I smile, walking into the room, taking the iPad from her stomach and placing it on to of her laptop after closing it. I sit down on the edge of the sofa, careful not to wake Kat suddenly. I run my fingers through her hair, watching as her eye flutter open and a smirk form on her face, “hey, Love,” she mumbles, her voice thick with sleep.

“Hello, how are you?” I ask, kissing her forehead. 

“Tired, and nauseous.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that. I can make you some ginger tea.” 

“If it isn’t trouble.” 

“Never trouble, I’ll be right back.” I walk back into the living room with two cups of tea. I hand one to Kat before curling up next to her with mine. 

“How was work?” Kat asks with a yawn.

“Work, I think I’m going to put in my two weeks, go back to freelancing and galleries now.” 

“Whatever makes you happy. I support all of your choices.” Kat says, kissing the side of my head.

“How are you, how was working from home?”

“Peaceful.” 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, there was no stress like there is at the office.”

“What did you tell Jaqueline?” 

“That I have the flu,” Kat chuckles, “I can hide under baggy sweaters for so much longer.”

“You didn’t tell anyone yet?”

“You said to wait until the second trimester, which is approaching.” 

“Would you like to have a grand announcement?” 

“We could always have my parents, Jane, and Sutton come by.”

“I think I want to tell my mother first, seeing as she across the ocean and can’t be here.” 

“Of course,” Kat nods, reaching over to grab her laptop.

“You’re going to call her now? It’s late over there.” 

“Do you want to wait until tomorrow?” 

“I think it would be better, rather than telling her now and having her up half the night.” 

“Fair enough.” Kat smiles, continuing to look at her laptop. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Emailing Angie.”

“Who is Angie?” 

“I’ve basically appointed her as my assistant, or rather the person under me. The unofficial vice-department-head.” 

“Sounds important.” 

“It is, I haven’t gotten the okay from Jaqueline yet, but I think when I’m out on leave, and I bring it up to her that I want Angie to be my fill in, everything will fall into place for her.” 

“You’re so sweet,” I chime, kissing the side of her head.

“I try,” Kat smiles, “do you want to do me a huge favor because you love me and I’m currently in the process of bringing forth new life?”

“Only you would start a proposition like that.” 

“Can you rub my back? I didn’t intend on falling asleep on the couch, and now I’m all achy.”

“Of course, Love.” I say, kissing her quickly as she turns around and faces away from me. I start to give her a massage, Kat moans quietly when I go over some places, and whines when I go over others. 

“How come I’ve never asked you for a back massage before?” Kat mumbles, turning slightly to look at me.

“I don’t know,” I shrug, “do you like it though?”

“You’re amazing, better than any massage I’ve ever paid for.” 

“You’re just excited that you don’t have to pay anymore, aren’t you?” I tease, causing a low chuckle to come from Kat.

“Very much, have you ever gone to a spa in Manhattan? They are expensive no matter how much money you make.” 

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” I say, kissing the base of her neck, “feel better?” I ask when Kat starts to pull away.

“Much better.” She smiles, turning to face me. I place my hands on her bump, something I have been doing since before it was even visible, leaning down and kissing her just above her belly button. I feel Kat run her fingers through my hair gently. 

“Hello in there little Love, I hope you are being good for your mother.”

“So far so good, aside from the achy body.” 

“Do you want to know the sex before they are born?” 

“Can we keep it to ourselves?”

“I was going to ask the same thing if you said yes,” I smile, sitting up straight. 

“I just don’t want my parents being overbearing like they will be when we tell them, and I don’t want Jane and Sutton buying a million different things.”

“I understand.” 

“Your mom though, she can know, she deserves to know,” Kat smiles, taking my hands in hers.

“What makes my mother different?”

“She’s in a different country, and she isn’t going to see this kid as frequently as she would want to or as much as the rest of them will, I just want to give her more than everyone who is here. If that makes sense.” 

“It does,” I nod, leaning in to kiss her, “you are so sweet.” 

“I try,” Kat smiles, “you know what we have to do.”

“What is that?”

“I don’t know about you but I don’t want one of those baby showers.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I don’t want to see relatives, I don’t want to get a bunch of stuff that I may like one second, put it in a registry and then hate it the next, especially when we can afford to support or baby before they are born and buy what we want for them.” 

“You just like being independent in all aspects of your life, and I love that about you.” 

“Thank you, for understanding.” 

“But you know my mother is going to send a million different things and would want to buy us a lot of things too.” 

“Which is fine. Your mother has only you and this is her first grandchild, so yeah. I know my parents have only me too, but I feel like it’s different.” 

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Kat, you know that.” 

“I know,” she nods, leaning in to kiss me again, “I love you.”

“When you say it like that if means you want something.” I chime causing Kat to smile wider.

“I’m hungry, little one in here is hungry,” she says, patting her stomach. 

“What do you want?”

“Hummus,” she chimes.

“Isn’t there any left in the fridge from yesterday?” 

“I ate that for lunch. I can’t make it as good as you do, and I’m never buying it already made again, I’ve been spoiled by your homemade hummus.” 

“You’re lucky I have everything here, or I wouldn’t make it.” I say, kissing her before getting up from the sofa.

  
  


-Kat POV- 

I follow Adena into the kitchen and sit at the counter, watching her as she starts preparing my hummus. “Do you think we’re going to have a girl first?”

“We want two girls, don’t we?” 

“Yeah, but it’s a fifty-fifty chance.” 

“I would hope for one of our little girls to be in there, but I won’t be disappointed if there was a boy.” 

“Should we get neutral furniture?”

“Isn’t all furniture neutral?” 

“I suppose.” I shrug. 

“At this point, a baby shower may be a good idea to consider.”

“I don’t want to think about it now, I’m too hungry.” 

“You’re hangry at this point.” 

“Yes, I am.” 

“Don’t pout, Love,” Adena says, leaning over the counter and kiss me, “it doesn’t suit you.” 

“I can’t help it when I’m hungry.” 

“Do you think our kid is going to be a pain like you?” Adena teases, turning on the food processor when I go to answer her and laughing. 

“You’re mean,” I whine.

* * *

I walk into work, barely making it past the lobby when I hear my name being called. I look over to see Jaqueline waving me into her office, I sigh as I make my way towards her. “How are you feeling?” She asks as I cross the threshold of her office.

“I’m alright.”

“You don’t really have the flu,” She stays, crossing her arms and looking at me with narrows eyes and a small smirk. 

“Uhm.” 

“Is there something you aren’t sharing?”

“Uhm, I - I don’t know how to tell you, or if I really can tell you.” 

“Kat, I want you to know that I am more aware of things that go on with my staff than you will ever know,” Jaqueline says, as she looks over different articles, “I also remember what it was like to be pregnant, even though it was a long while ago.”

“Uhm.” 

“Don’t stammer, Kat, it isn’t like you. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Jaqueline.”

“How far along are you?” 

“The start of the second trimester.” 

“Wonderful. Jane is going to start writing an article about millennial mothers and what it’s like balancing careers and motherhood, you may be a nice addition to it. What it’s like to be pregnant and head a department head of a company. It may be interesting.” 

“I’ll have to talk to her about it when I tell her the news.” 

“You didn’t tell her yet?” 

“No, Adena and I are having people over tonight to tell them. I was actually planning on telling you before I left today, I wanted to discuss my options with you for who I want to be in my position when I go on maternity leave,” I say, standing up a bit straighter.

“Who would that be?” 

“Angie. She has kept me up to date with everything going on in my absence and I feel she would properly represent the social media department and what we stand for while I’m gone. She knows what I expect from her and knows what is expected for the success of the department.”

“I’ll put her into consideration, seeing as these next few months will fly by, she is youdo?”

“Around Christmas.”

“Congratulations to you and Adena, I wish you nothing but the best.” 

“Thank you.” 

“I have the name of a designer that specializes in maternity wear for businesswomen, remind me and I will give you her name.” 

“Of course,” I smile.

“Keep me updated and I want to see pictures as soon as that little one is here.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

* * *

Adena and I were in the kitchen getting everything together for our baby announcement, I look over to see her whispering to herself. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, just praying,” she smiles.

“Praying?” 

“I pray often, you know this.”

“But that usually involves the whole salat.”

“I also pray when I feel the need to.”

“You’re praying to get through this evening because we are introverted and hate having company over just as much as we hate going out unless it’s necessary. I get it.” 

“I love that you just get me,” Adena smiles, pulling me in for a kiss. 

“Are you ready for Jane and Sutton to scream so loud it could be heard in the Hamptons?”

“My mother would be able to hear it without having to be on Skype.” 

“That is basically what is going to happen.”

“Is your grandma able to come from Dad’s side?” 

“Yes, she is coming and a couple of my aunts and cousins. Our small get together traveled fast and now is a gathering, but my mother insisted on telling everyone to bring something so it would take the pressure off of us.”

“What does your mom think it is?” 

“I told her we were celebrating your new gallery showing.” 

“Should I have a slideshow ready to show them? Or should I print out some proofs?”

“We have time if you want to print out some photos, or you can bull shit.” 

“I have an idea, it will work for the announcement too.” 

“What are you going to do?”

“Put a slideshow together with all of our baby pictures. I don’t know what the working title for the showing will be, but it won’t matter. I can edit them, call it ‘A Reimagined Childhood,’ it could be pictures of both of us growing up and I’ll end it with that picture I took of you yesterday with your little bump.” 

“I like it, you can get it together in an hour?”

“Of course, I’ve had to deal with sooner deadlines.” Adena smiles, kissing me quickly before going into the living room. 

“Baby?” I call out, following her. 

“Yes?” She asks, looking up from her computer when I walk into the room. 

“Do you think we’re going to be good parents?”

“Are you worried that we aren’t going to be?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, walking over and sitting on the arm of her chair. Adena wraps her arms around my waist, holding me steady, “I know it’s silly to worry about this now, but I feel like I’m going to keep worrying about it until she’s born,” I say, placing my hands on my stomach.

“Kat, everything will be okay. You shouldn’t worry about anything like that yet. We just have to make our announcement and then we’ll see what happens.”

“You’re right. I hate, but also love when you’re right.” 

“I know,” Adena smiles, kissing my neck, “do you want to take a picture quick, we’ll put a different one at the end rather than one of just you?”

“You want one of those cheesy photos of you standing behind me?” I tease.

“Yes, the one that looks like a cheesy prom photo, I think it would be cute.” 

“Okay,” I smile, kissing her quickly. I get up to let Adena out of her corner to set up her tripod. After she takes a couple of photos to find the perfect one, she settles on the one that was less ‘prom night’ and more ‘proud parent’. Adena shows me the slideshow just before Sutton comes barreling through the doorway. 

“Hello, bitches!” She announces, making herself at home immediately. 

“Hello, Sutton. How are you?” Adena asks, walking over to greet her with a kiss to the cheek. 

“Very well, how are you guys?”

“We’re great.”

“So do I get to know why we are all gathered here, seeing as I’m the first one?”

“No, you have to wait for everyone else.” I say, leading the way into the kitchen.

“Oh please, if I guess will you deny it?”

“Probably,” I say, trying not to get annoyed.

“Kat, be nice.”

“I don’t want to be nice.”

“Being mean isn’t good for the baby.” Sutton chimes, popping a grape into her mouth.

“How did you know?” I ask, looking over to see a grin on her face.

“Oh please, like it isn’t obvious. You’ve been trying to hide under baggy clothes for a couple of weeks now, and that isn’t like you,” Sutton chimes, walking over to hug me, “I’m happy for you though. So, so happy,” she whispers in my ear.

“Thank you,” I smile, “are you ready to be Auntie Sutton?’

“Of course, are you ready to have you child be the most fashionable baby in Chelsea?”

“That would have been the case with or without you,” I say, causing Sutton to scoff a bit. 

“Can you just promise to not say anything? I don’t care that you already know, but as far as telling Kat’s family and my mother, I want that to be special.”

“Adena, you have nothing to worry about, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Adena smiles. Not long after Sutton arrived, everyone else began to trickle in with my parents being the last to show. Everything was going well, my relatives were catching up with each other, everyone was asking Adena how her showing was coming along and she was happy to play to the fact that they didn’t know much of what was happening. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Adena asks, causing everyone to look at her, “so we’ve gathered everyone here today to give you a sneak peek into my new project, and if you could all bring your attention to the television, I’ve set up a slideshow of what I will be showing in the upcoming gallery exhibit.” I look over to see Adena smile as she sets uproar everything to play on the TV. I walk over to where she was by the computer and wrap my arms around her from behind, resting my chin in her shoulder as she leans into me carefully. We watch as everyone enjoys the edits of our reimagined baby and childhood photos, Adena then pulls out her phone so she could Skype with her mother. 

“Hello Dear,” Padma smiles. 

“Mother, we have something to share with you,” Adena chimes, switching the orientation of the camera so she could see what was in the television. Padma watches on with a smile. Once it starts to come to a close and it’s pictures of Adena and I from our wedding, everyone starts to get a little confused, we watch as everyone’s expressions change, until the final photo of my standing in our bedroom with a smile on my face as I expose the small baby bump comes in the screen, everyone in the room gasps at the same time, turning to look at Adena and I. 

“I’m pregnant.” I chime, causing everyone to break out in applause. I look at the phone to see Padma crying, I feel myself well up with tears as I hear Adena comforting her mother in Farsi. 

“Congratulations Kat,” My mother says, walking over to me with tears running down her face, “how far along?” 

“Just starting the second trimester.” 

“Oh my, I remember when I was pregnant with you, I can’t even begin to tell you have magical it will become.”

“Back pain becomes magical?” I tease, causing my mother to roll her eyes at me.

“I hope my grandchild doesn’t get your sarcastic trait.” 

“I hope they do, but at the same time I know I will regret it,” Adena chimes, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“What happened with your mom?” 

“She congratulated us, and said she will call us tomorrow, it was a little bittersweet, but she is happy to be an expectant grandmother.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Jane asks, walking over and giving me a hug, “Sutton said you told her first.”

“Sutton came over here and took a guess, which she just happened to be right on, so don’t believe her,” I scoff, causing Jane to laugh a bit. 

“Either way, I am very happy for you,” Jane says, pulling me in for a hug, “you too, Adena, you are both going to making amazing parents.” 

“Thank you,” we say in unison.

“Can I ask how you did things?” My mom asks quietly. 

“This little one is my egg and a donor. We used the same donor to fertilize a couple of Adena’s eggs for when we want to try again, seeing as Adena can’t carry children, that was the best way to go.” 

“I’m happy for you both, and at least you are keeping the kids genetically connected through your donor.”

“We figured we wouldn’t be genetically connected if we adopted, that part never really mattered to either of us, we just wanted to raise happy and healthy little humans,” Adena smiles, kissing me on the cheek.

“And I can’t wait to see the wonderful mothers you are both going to become.”

“Thank you, Mom.” 


	13. Chapter 13

-Kat POV-

I stand in front of the mirror in our closet, I stood sideways, looking at the profile of my body and how I was now the size of a small planet. Being six months pregnant didn’t have any perks to it at all, my body ached every minute, my feet were swollen all the time, and the thought of wearing anything remotely fashionable was off the table. Although thankfully the number Jaqueline gave me came in handy, the designer at least made me look presentable without having to give up on the fashion forwardness of Scarlet. “Kat?” I hear Adena call out.

“Closet,” I call back. I see her in the reflection of the mirror, she was dressed for work and waiting to leave.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

“Do you still love me even though I am currently a planet?” 

“Kat, of course I love you,” Adena chimes, walking in and wrapping her arms around me from behind, resting her hands on my bump as she smiled at me, “you are just a beautiful as the day I first saw you,” she whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek. 

“But I’m starting to get stretch marks and I don’t feel beautiful,” I whine, Adena looks at me curiously, turning me in her arms to face her and holding my face in her hands. 

“You don’t feel beautiful?”

“Not what I can barely see my toes when I look down, and I can’t wear any of the clothes in this closet. I feel all puffy all the time, and I can’t breathe without my back hurting me.”

“Those are small things when it comes to the end result. You are supporting life, you are supporting our baby. I may not fully understand how you feel, but I can tell you that in the end, it is going to be worth it when we have our little baby in our arms.” 

“I’m not going to let myself go once she’s born.”

“I wouldn’t expect you too, you’re going to bounce right back once this little bundle is born. You still feel like we’re having a girl?”

“Yes, little Amelia is in there, causing me all this anguish.”

“Well, little Love in there better let up on your anguish,” Adene teases, kissing me softly before kneeling down in front of me, pushing my tank top up slightly, “Little Love, you better get it together, Mommy is complaining and being momentarily irrational. I don’t like seeing her upset.” 

“Cause that’s going to help, wait, whoa,” I say, placing my hands next to Adena’s to feel the baby move. 

“Is that the first time?”

“Yeah, I haven’t felt that before,” I chime, matching Adena’s smile. 

“Well, someone is willing to comply then.”

“And someone loves their Maman,” I whisper, pulling Adena up to kiss her softly. 

“Everything will be okay, Love.” 

“I know.”

“Don’t worry, and don’t ever say you don’t feel beautiful.” 

“I know, I’ll try not to.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you, too.”

“Are you home today?”

“Yeah, Jaqueline said I could really just work from home for this last trimester unless I feel like getting out of the house then I can come into the office.”

“Okay. I’ll be home in a little while, I just have to meet with Firuze about a couple of showings I have coming up.”

“Okay,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her. 

“I’ll see you later, Love.”

“I’ll see you later.” 

* * *

“How come you don’t know if you’re having a boy or girl yet?” Sutton asks as we walk through a baby store.

“Adena and I don’t know if we want to know just yet.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, picking up a pale blue dress.

“You’re hoping for a girl though, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we both are,” I smile, holding onto the dress. 

“Are you going to name her, Sutton?” 

“No, we aren’t going to name her Sutton.”

“Well, you should. I would be honored if you did.” 

“Okay, but it isn’t happening, we’re naming her Amelia.”

“So, her middle name can be Sutton or Brady.”

“Amelia Brady El-Amin-Edison? Do you like it, Little Love?” I ask, looking down and placing my hands on my stomach to feel the baby moving around, “I think she likes it.”

“Is she kicking?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I feel?” Sutton asks, placing her hands close to mine before I could give her an answer, “Holy crap. That’s cool,” Sutton smiles.

“Yeah, it is. She moves a lot when Adena is around and talking, especially when Adena starts to hum or sing. When Adena talks to her in Farsi too, Little Love in here just goes nuts.” 

“She’s going to be an amazing mother. Both of you are going to be amazing mothers.” 

“I really hope so.”

“I know you will be. You and Adena are such a good team in many aspects, that being parents is going to be something that will be second nature to both of you.” 

“Thanks.”

“So you’re going to name your first born after me?”

“I have to run it by my wife first.”

“You know, I think that’s the first time I heard you refer to Adena as your wife.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I guess with me you never have to bring it up because I already know, but either way, it’s nice to hear you say you have a wife.”

“Well I am proud that I have a wife, I like saying it more than I thought I would.”

“Is it empowering?”

“To be married?”

“Yeah, is it empowering having a wife, someone who is committed to you?”

“Uhm, I think so. I mean, she’s there for me no matter what, and she loves me unconditionally. So I suppose that has empowering qualities to it. I feel like if I didn’t have her I wouldn’t be as happy. I think I would still be going with the flow of life in a way that isn’t fun at all. Adena brings out something in me that I never thought I had, standing here shopping for my unborn child, I never thought I would have this at twenty-seven. Adena said she never thought she would have it at thirty.”  

“I never knew Adena was three years older than you.” 

“It isn’t common knowledge, but it also isn’t a big deal in our relationship as far as other people knowing.” 

“Moving on, you know, I didn’t think you would be in this position you’re in, honestly.”

“Married and pregnant?”

“And maintaining your position as a department head.”

“Adena wants to be the stay-at-home mom.” 

“Oh really?” 

“Yeah. I don’t like not being at work, I like being at the office, I hate working from home.”

“Do you think that will change once the baby is born?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, picking out a cute onesie that said ‘My Mommies Love Me’ in different colored letters, “this is so cute,” I chime, showing it to Sutton who coos. 

“It really is,” She chimes. The conversation between went from serious to talking about what to get the baby, seeing as Adena and I had nothing more than a nursery set of furniture still waiting to be put together. 

“Do you want to do me a favor because you love me?”

“Have I ever said no to you?”

“No, so would you mind coming over this weekend to help Adena put together furniture for the baby?”

“Even though that doesn’t sound fun, I will do it. As long as I get fed.” 

“There will be pizza and wine, just for you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

"Son of a bitch!” I hear Adena shout from the baby’s room as I reach the top of the stairs, I walk into the room to see a crib in about a million piece spread out over the floor, set into organized piles of sorts, but still chaotic.

“Did you just curse?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips as I lean against the doorframe.

“I did, I hate doing this.”

“Sutton will be here soon.” 

“Okay, that doesn’t help me now.”

“I didn’t say it would.” 

“Sorry I’m grumpy,” Adena apologizes, taking a deep breath before standing up and walking over to wrap her arms around me, hiding her face in the crook of my neck, “you smell like cocoa butter."

“Always.” 

“I know, but this seems fresh, you just put it on? You always smell amazing, but sometimes is better than others.”

“Like now, post shower and smelling great.” 

“Exactly,” she mumbles against my neck before kissing me there, “how are you feeling this morning?” She asks, holding me at my shoulders. 

“Good, it’s a good morning,” I smile, patting my stomach, “I am hungry though.”

“What do you want?”

“Donuts from that bakery in Brooklyn.”

“Ask Sutton to bring them, she’s coming from there anyway.”  

“This is why I married you, you’re my brain when I don’t feel like using my own.” 

“At least I am useful for something.” 

“Well, your looks are also a plus."

“Is that so?” Adena smirks.

“You are the sexiest person I have ever met.” 

“Tell me more,” she says in a teasing manner. 

“I wouldn’t want to inflate your ego any more than it already is.” 

“You’re no fun.” 

“Your help is here,” I chime when I hear the doorbell ring. I go downstairs to let Sutton in, “upstairs before you say anything, my holy wife is cursing because she is so frustrated,” I say, pointing up the stairs.

“Adena said a bad word?” Sutton teases. 

“I have the capacity to curse when I feel like it!” Adena calls out, clearly having heard us.

“Here, I brought you a treat,” Sutton says, handing me a paper bag, “I figured you’d want one.”

“I love you,” I coo, looking into the bag to see a donut, “babe, Sutton is the best friend ever, I didn't even have to text her about the donut!” I announce as I walk you to see the two of them getting to work. 

“You have no idea how happy you made her,” Adena laughs. 

“Wonderful, anything to make a pregnant lady happy,” Sutton chimes. 

“I’m going to lie down.”

“Are you okay?” Adena asks, walking over to me. 

“Yeah, just tired.” 

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get up.” Adena mumbles, kissing me quickly.

 

-Adena POV-

I watch as Kat leaves the room before turning my attention back to the task at hand. I look over to see Sutton working effortlessly, already completing part of the bottom frame of the crib. “You’re very handy.”

“Yeah, growing up in somewhat rural Pennsylvania has its perks, you learn to be pretty handy at a young age,” she explains with a smile.

“That’s good.” 

“What was it like growing up for you?”

“It wasn’t like how you grew up, that is a given. But it also wasn’t horrible. In looking back, I’m very grateful for the fact that I am going to be raising a family here in America, rather than Iran. I don’t feel like any child that is born in this century should be living in a country that is still living in the previous one. I don’t want my daughters to live in oppression nor would I want my sons influenced to be like the men around him. Not to mention, I wouldn’t be married to Kat, and would probably have been forced to be married to a man that I would never have the capacity to love.” 

“Sounds rough,” Sutton chimes, not looking up from what she was doing.

“Yeah, it is.”

“So, I ran it by Kat and she said she has to talk to you about it, but since she’s so sure you guys are having a girl, I feel I should be given the honor of having your first born being my namesake.” 

“Really?” I ask with a chuckle.

“Yes, she said you settled on the name Amelia, I think Amelia Brady has a nice ring to it.”

“Amelia Brady El-Amin-Edison. I like it, but I think I’d have to see the Little Love before settling on a name for her.”

“That makes sense, you and Kat both call her Little Love,” Sutton smiles. 

“Yeah, it seemed like a good enough nickname for now, especially since we don’t know if they’re a boy or a girl. Little Love fits.”

“It’s cute.”

“Thank you.” 

“Are you as scared of being a mother as Kat is?”

“Yes, if I am being honest, I’m scared shitless.” 

“I like this Americanized cursing Adena, it’s refreshing,” Sutton chimes, looking up at me with a chuckle. I couldn’t help but laugh at her comment. 

“It’s nice to know I have a refreshing quality to myself.” I chime as I begin to help her with the furniture. A few hours later, everything was finally put together and waiting to be set up to the way Kat wants it. I walk out of the nursery and into our bedroom to see Kat sitting up in bed, typing away at her laptop, “hey.” I chime, smiling when Kat looks up at me with a smile, the thought of having a child that looked like Kat was something that I was excited for since the day we talked about wanting to have children. 

“Hi, you guys all done?”

“Yeah, we just finished up. Did you sleep?”

“Yeah, I feel better. I had to reply to an email from Angie.” 

“You don’t need to explain anything to me,” I say as I walk into the room and lie down in bed next to Kat, “how is Little Love?” I ask, placing my hand on her bump.

“Doing her thing.”

“When is your next appointment?”

“Thursday, I’m pretty sure it’s Thursday."

“Can we find out?”

“I think at this point, we should,” Kat chimes, running her fingers through my hair, “I think we should have a baby shower too, just for clothes and toys, stuff like that.”

“Okay.” I nod, leaning in to kiss her, “whatever you want, Love.” 

* * *

Kat and I were waiting in the examination room, Kat was sat on the table while I was in a chair beside her, holding her hand.

“Hello Ms. Edison, Ms. El-Amin.” 

“Ben, you’re dating my best friend and are months away from delivering my child, we don’t have to be professional,” Kat says, causing Bed to laugh. 

“You’re right, okay, let’s have a look.” Kat brings her shirt up to the top of her bump just below her breasts, Ben pulls out a bottle, putting some of the goo just below her belly button before getting out the sensor for the sonogram, we look at the screen, smiling when we see the fuzzy gray pictures come on the screen, “would you like to know the sex?”

“Please,” Kat says, looking at me for confirmation, I nod. We both look at Ben to see him smiling, he pushed a few buttons, moving the sensor around. 

“Well, I would like to point out that your daughter is growing beautifully, she is at the right size and there doesn’t seem to be any issues, she should be with us at Christmas,” Ben smiles.

“A daughter,” I whisper, kissing the side of Kat’s head, “a little Kat.” 

“Congratulations ladies.” 

“We’re having a girl, I knew it,” Kat chimes, kissing me softly, “I’m so happy.”

“Me too,” I whisper against her lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

 

-Kat POV-

“So, it turns out that I was right about you, Little Love.” I chime, rocking in the rocking chair that was in Amelia’s room. Adena and I held a baby shower not long after we confirmed that we were having a girl, thankfully we ended up getting everything else we needed to have as first-time parents, including the rocking chair. I am a month or so away from welcoming Amelia into the world, and as per doctor Ben’s request, I was to stay home and be on bedrest to a degree. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in a while. Maman and I are busy waiting for you to get here. We’re making sure we have everything we need for you and are ready to go when we can’t sleep all night anymore, or when you throw up on Maman’s expensive clothes, I have a feeling you will do that to her first, and I’ll know better than to wear my good clothes while I’m with you. Speaking of clothes, Auntie Sutton already has your wardrobe looking as if you are going to be a fashionista from day one, which isn’t a bad thing seeing as I work for a magazine that is influenced by fashion, Auntie Jane also works there and is an award-winning writer, which is something that will matter when you start understanding how to read, but she will love and spoil you like you were her own. I know that for a face. Maman is a photographer, so be ready to have a camera in your face every minute, and a real one. I’ll, on the other hand, have my phone in your face every second of the day. I think Maman will want to have an official photo shoot with you as soon as you’re born. Oh, Amelia, you are going to be raised in such a loving home, such a creative home. You are already so loved by so many people, I wish you were here already, I wish I was holding you right now instead of talking to you while you’re underwater,” I smile when I feel her move under my hands, “you want to be here already too, don’t you? When you’re ready, I know you will be here. I hope it isn’t too soon, but I also want it to be soon.”

“Are you talking to yourself?” Adena teases, walking into the room with a smile. 

“I’m having a talk with our daughter,” I smile, looking up as she walks up to where I was sat to kiss me.

“Is she listening?” 

“I hope so,” I say before Adena hums in my ear, kissing the side of my head.

“Little Love, you better be listening,” Adena says as she kneels in front of me, “Mommy and I can’t wait to meet you, can’t wait to see you and hold you. I know I am not letting you go for a long time when I first hold you, only for Mommy to feed you of course,” Adena chuckles, “Soon, Love. I will see you soon.” She adds before whispering something in Farsi and kissing my bump. 


	14. Chapter 14

-Adena POV-

Amelia Brady El-Amin-Edison, seven pounds, twelve ounces, and twenty-two inches long. Our tiny bundle of joy was finally here. Midnight of December twenty-third, a night I will never forget and never mind being sleep deprived from. It was the early morning hours, Kat was fast asleep while I sat in a chair close to her bed, holding our daughter while she slept in my arms. I couldn’t stop staring at her, she looks so much like Kat, I fell in love with her instantly. The moment her little lungs took their first breath, how she cried out her welcome into the world, I fell in love. I watched her face carefully as she slept, small twitches in her nose, the way her lips curled up into a smirk every so often, watching her eyes move behind closed eyelids were things that amazed me, seeing as she was only hours old and yet she was showing signs of her potentially dreaming, seeing as Kat often did the same things in her sleep. I smile, watching as she opens her eyes for a moment, looking at me with a small smile before letting out a giggle. “You are like Mommy,” I say gently, feeling a warmth run through my body, “are you tricking me? You want me to think you’re still sleeping?” I coo, watching as Amelia opens her eyes fully, looking at me with those deep brown eyes that matched Kat’s exactly, she smiles, letting out a small whimper before scrunching up her face and crying. “Oh, Sweetheart,” I coo, looking over to see Kat beginning to wake up. 

“She probably needs to be fed,” Kat mumbles, taking a deep breath before sitting up a bit more, opening her arms for Amelia. I reluctantly hand her over, allowing Kat to begin feeding her. 

“How does that feel?”

“Weird, so weird,” Kat says through a yawn, looking over at me with a lazy smile, “have you slept yet?”

“No.” 

“You should.”

“I don’t want to stop looking at her.” 

“I know, but you have to sleep too.”

“I will, at some point,” I say, kissing Kat’s forehead.

“Hopefully soon,” she says, leaning up to kiss me, “I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“You’re going to burp her, right?”

“That’s why I am still awake,” I chime, “when would you like me to call everyone?”

“Wait until the afternoon. I want to stay in our bubble, but you can FaceTime your mom.”

“Now?” 

“Yeah. Burp Amelia first and then give her a call.” I do as I’m told, making sure everything is in order before calling my mother. 

“Hello, Adena! How are you?” 

“I’m well, Mother, how are you?”

“Well, I was just getting home from shopping, I bought the baby something so cute, I’m sending it tomorrow, how is Kat?”

“Kat is good, we actually have something to show you,” I smile, sitting on the edge of Kat’s bed, “Momma, meet Amelia.”

“Oh my, she is beautiful,” Mother chimes, I can see the tears begin to well in her eyes, “When was she born?”

“Around midnight.” 

“She looks like Kat, I can’t wait to come and meet her.”

“You can book a flight to come whenever you want to Padma, we should be home tomorrow, although I think it would be best to wait until the New Year, or I’ll send you the money.” 

“Kat, I can manage, besides coming in the New Year sounds great. It gives you girls time to settle and get everything in order, get used to having her home and start a routine.”

“Thank you for being so understanding, Momma.”

“I wouldn’t call it that. When I had you I didn’t want visitors until everything was in order and you were on a proper schedule.” 

“Well, as soon as you make arrangements, let me know.”

“Of course, I want to see her again.” Mother chimes, I smile, turning the camera to face Amelia entirely, I watch as she opens her eyes for a moment, looking into the camera before closing them again, a small smile playing in her face like earlier. 

“I am proud of you, Adena.”

“Thank you, Momma.” 

 

-Kat POV-

I walk into the nursery to see Adena bouncing around the room with Amelia in her arms, singing to her quietly in Farsi. I watch as she turns around, smiling when she sees me. “Hello.” 

“Hey,” I chime, leaning in to kiss her.

“How did you sleep?”

“Good, it’s time for Little Love to be fed,” I smile, caressing Amelia’s cheek before sitting down in the rocking chair to get ready to feed her. Once Amelia begins feeding I smile, looking up to see Adena staring at me in awe, “what?”

“You’re beautiful,” She whispers in Farsi, she says it so often I no longer have to be reminded about what it means, she bends down and kisses me softly.

“Please don’t go get the camera, you promised no pictures when I was feeding,” I say when she goes to leave the room.

“I wasn’t doing that,” she smiles. 

“Yes, you were. I know when you’re lying.” 

“Okay so maybe I was.” 

“You promised.” 

“I’m sorry, it’s just so beautiful, I can’t help it.” 

“Later I’ll let you take one.”

“Okay,” she smiles.

“Here, take your kid and burp her,” I say, holding Amelia up to her. Adena smiles, taking the little girl from me and bringing her gently to her shoulder. Watching Adena with Amelia is something that I fall in love with again and again as time goes on. Amelia has been home for a total of two weeks and in that two week period, I have fallen in love with Adena fourteen more times. 

“Sweetheart, can you take her?”

“Did she throw up in you?” I ask, trying to hold back a laugh. 

“Yeah, of course, she misses the burp rag and gets on my shoulder.”

“Go shower, it’s in your hair too,” I laugh, cradling Amelia in my arms, I look down to see the little girl smirking, “Adena, she’s laughing about it.” 

“She’s like her mother!” Adena calls out from the hallway. 

“Well, your Maman is not happy with you,” I say, lying her down on the changing table to dress her for the day, “your auntie Sutton is suppose to be coming over today, she’s want to see you in one of the fifteen outfits she got you,” I say, pulling out something that wasn’t fashion forward, “but I don’t care what she would want because it too cold to go out, so we’re staying inside and staying cozy,” I coo, changing her into a new onesie, “I love you,” I sing, kissing her forehead, “I can’t wait for you to be a bit older though, be more alert, but I also don’t want to rush through this part of your life.” I hear the faint sound of a camera shutter going off behind me, I roll my eyes, smiling as I look over my shoulder to see Adena standing in the doorway with her camera and a smile on her face. 

“Every moment, we talked about this.” 

“I know, but still. Whatever plan you have for these photos better be worth it.”

“It will be, I promise,” she smiles, walking over to kiss my cheek before taking another picture. As soon as Adena was finished taking photos, we made our way downstairs, I placed Amelia in her swing before turning to face Adena, who was in her office corner editing photos.

“Are you making a show of our daughter?” I ask, walking up behind her, rubbing her back as I look over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

“Something for us, not for a gallery. I have no reason to show her off.”

“Whenever you’re done you’ll show me?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. 

“Of course,” she whispers, looking up at me. We kiss for a moment, when there was an annoying knock on the door, “is that Sutton?” Adena asks, pulling away with a smile.

“Yeah, I should get it,” I smile, kissing her again and going to the door. 

“Where is my namesake?” Sutton announces, taking off her coat and handing me a bag.

“What is this?”

“Baby Scarlet swag,” she chimes, walking into the living room. 

“I don’t want to be one of  _ those _ parents, but could you wash up before touching her?” Adena asks from her desk, looking at Sutton with a tight-lipped smile.

“Of course,” Sutton was back in a flash, taking Amelia from her swing and cradling her in her arms, “hello, you are so tiny and look like Mommy, Mommy right?” 

“Yes, Adena is Maman.” 

“Okay,” Sutton nods. 

“Are you happy to finally meet her?” I ask, walking over and sitting on the couch beside them.

“Yes, you have no idea. I can’t believe how tiny she is, and how much she looks like you. Has she kept you up all night?”

“No, surprisingly she has been pretty good and keeps to her schedule, for the most part, I also have an amazing partner that tries to problem solve before having to wake me up,” I smile, looking over at Adena. 

“I want to find an Adena in my life,” Sutton whines. 

“You will one day,” I smile, “you just have to be open to it.”

“Being with a woman?” 

“No, finding the person that makes you feel like you aren’t alone in anything you do, and it a  _ partner _ in every meaning of the word,” I explain, watching as Sutton looks down at Amelia who was looking up at her curiously, “I know, your Auntie Sutton is funny looking,” I tease. 

“Auntie Jane is the funniest looking of us all, don’t let your mother fool you.” Sutton chimes, “what was it like giving birth?” 

“Painful, and weird, but worth it. Looking at that face every morning since has been worth everything.”

“That sounds so beautiful, and so not worth going through. I’ll just love your kids like my own.” 

“Okay. I mean you feel that way now, but you never know how you’ll feel. I would like Amelia to have some friends that are her age without having to go to those mommy and me classes.”

“At this rate, Jane will be giving you friends soon.”

“True, how is Tiny Jane? I haven’t heard from her.”

“She’s good, working a lot and hanging out with her boyfriend, Ben.”

“Oh yes, Dr. Ben and I are very close now, thank you very much.”

“I forgot he was your doctor.” 

“Yeah, I told her to come by whenever she wanted to, sometimes I feel like she makes herself busy or she doesn’t want to come all the way here,” I shrug.

“I think the whole BRACA thing upsets her, and that she can’t really have kids, and see you have one. All of that may get to her, but she’ll never admit it, she’ll just distance herself.”

“That’s understandable,” I nod, taking Amelia when she starts to get fussy, “I’m going to talk to her about it soon.”

“Whatever you want, I don’t know what she’s going to say, you know how she can be sometimes.” 

“Yeah, I know.”

“Sweetheart, do you want me to take her so you can talk with Sutton?” Adena asks as she walks over. 

“No, she’s okay,” I smile up at Adena who bends down to kiss my forehead.

“Okay,” Adena smiles, “would either of you like a cup of tea?”

“Please,” I nod.    


“Sutton?”

“No thank you, can I have a glass of wine?”

“Of course,” Adena smiles, walking into the kitchen.

“I just realized you can’t drink, that must suck,” Sutton gasps, looking at her phone.

“It isn’t as bad as you would think. I have been cutting back anyway since I met Adena, so it isn’t missed.” 

“You’re quite progressive, personally. You’ve grown up,” Sutton nods, “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you,” I say with mock seriousness, getting up to put Amelia into her swing.

“Have your parents come to meet their grandbaby?”

“They should be coming this weekend, I’m not too sure. Adena’s mom is coming next week. I just want them all to come here so then they could all leave.” 

“When are you coming back to work?”

“Jaqueline gave me six months, with the option to take longer if I wanted. I can also work from home. I have to just get back to her in a few weeks about what I plan on doing, Angie though is doing a great job, I don’t want to take that from her too soon.”

“You’re a nice boss when you have a favorite."

“Thank you.”

“Oliver is a good boss too, seeing as I’m his favorite, so being on the receiving end of the favoritism, it makes someone feel good,” Sutton chimes, I laugh as Adena walks in with two cups of tea and a glass of wine handing us our drinks before sitting down beside me.

“Thank you."

“You’re welcome, Love,” Adena says, kissing my cheek

“Do you two ever get tired of being so affectionate?

“I think that if you love someone enough, you never get tired of being affectionate. I am committed to Kat, and I want people to know that. I don’t care if it is annoying to other people, or if people are uncomfortable because it is my relationship with her, not anyone else’s. I also want our daughter to be raised in a home that doesn’t hide love, I don’t want Amelia to come to a point in her life where she could possibly second guess how much I love her mother,” Adena explains, placing her hand on my knee

“You two are so in love, I can’t even begin to explain how much I love it.

“I hope you are lucky enough to find a love like mine and Kat’s, I truly mean that Sutton, it is a wonderful thing.

“Maybe one day,” she chimes, holding up her glass, “let’s drink to that.”

“To you finding a lover that is as amazing as Adena,” I say, raising my mug, smiling at Adena before we drink.

* * *

“Hello, Little Love,” Adena chimes, climbing into bed beside me, kissing my cheek and kissing Amelia’s forehead, “Hello, Kat.

“Hi,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her, “how was work?

“Long. I was editing all day.

“Sounds boring,” I tease, looking down at Amelia, she was officially a month old, and it was amazing how fast she was growing and how much more alert she was becoming. Lately, I find myself just staring at her for hours, whether she is fully awake or asleep

“How was your day?” She asks, getting out of bed and walking over to change into something comfortable

“Just watching Little Love grow up right before my eyes. Today she was more alert and was possibly watching the TV.

“Possibly?” Adena laughs

“Yeah, I mean I couldn’t be too sure, but it was interesting.

“That’s still good news, she is growing up so fast.

“I know, but she is still a tiny munchkin, which is exciting,” I chime, kissing Amelia’s nose, causing the little girl to giggle, I kept doing it and talking to her in baby talk when I hear Adena taking pictures. I chose to ignore it, letting her take her photos

“I’m going to edit and print these tomorrow,” Adena chimes, looking at her camera, “I think this one is my favorite, I think I’m going to print it in black and white,” she says, showing me a photo of me literally nose to nose with Amelia, who was smiling at me while I smiled at her

“I can see why we’re adorable,” I chime, smiling as Adena smirks at me, leaning over to kiss me

“You are. I have the most beautiful family.

“You do, we’re amazing.

“You are.”


	15. Chapter 15

-Kat POV- 

“Good morning, Little Love,” I chime, walking into the nursery to see Amelia lying on her stomach with a smile on her face, her pacifier nearly falling out of her mouth, she is six months old and growing more beautiful by the day, “how are you?” I say, picking her up and kissing her chubby cheeks, “you must have slept well, you’re very happy this morning,” I lay her down on the changing table, changing her diaper and figuring out what to dress her in for the day.

“Hey, Love,” Adena whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek, “how are you Little One,” she sings, leaning down to kiss Amelia’s forehead causing Amelia to giggle and pull at Adena’s hair, “okay, Love. Let me go,” she laughs taking her hair from Amelia’s grasp, “she’s handsy like you.” Adena teases, kissing me again. 

“Are you going to the studio today?”

“No,” she hums, “I want to spend the day with you two. I thought it would be fun to go to a park or something like that. It’s nice and warm today.”

“That sounds nice, would you like to do that Amelia?” I asked, tickling her belly as she plays with one of her teething toys, “I think she’s into it. Can you pack her bag?”   


“Of course,” Adena chimes, grabbing a few things we would need for being out most of the day, “do you want spare clothes too?”

“Yeah, just in case. I would like to run over to Scarlet and see how things are going, show her off a bit, no one has seen her except for Sutton and Jane.”

“Okay.” 

“What should we put you in today, Lovebug?” 

“That cute sunflower dress, my mother sent. She may be big enough to finally fit into it.” 

“Maman is amazing, isn't she?” I ask, looking to see Amelia look up at me with a scrunched up nose before she starts crying a bit, “oh, Baby.” I coo, picking her up and bouncing her a bit. 

“Maybe she doesn’t want to wear that dress.” 

“Do you want to wear the Gucci outfit Auntie Sutton bought you when she got her raise?” I chime, walking over to the closet to get the tutu and t-shirt, only to have Amelia calm down a bit and giggle.

“Sutton will be spoken to about catering to your expensive tastes,” Adena says, kissing Amelia on the cheek before leaving the room. 

“Maman just doesn’t want you to be too spoiled, but I think you look cute in this outfit. Besides we are going to Scarlet, and Auntie Sutton and Uncle Oliver will be impressed by your choice at such a young age,” I explain as my daughter looks at me with a curious smile, “you have no idea what I am saying,” I coo, as she laughs at me, raising her hand to pat my cheek as I lean over her to put her shirt on. 

“Do you want me to take over so you can get dressed?” Adena asks, placing her hand on my back as she stands beside me, smiling at the little girl who was looking up at Adena with adoration. 

“If you don’t care.”

“I wouldn’t have offered,” she smiles, kissing me quickly, “everything else is taken care of and waiting for us to go.”

“Okay, I’ll be quick.” Once I was dressed and ready to go, I walked downstairs to see Adena playing with Amelia on the floor on Amelia’s playmat, I took out my phone, taking a picture of the two of them, setting it as my background, “are you ready to go?”

“Of course,” Adena chimes, standing up before bending over to pick up the baby. 

“You have everything?”

“Diapers, bottles, extra milk, toys. You name it, it’s all in the bag.” 

“You, Ms. El-Amin, are amazing,” I chime, kissing her softly, only to have Amelia bop me slightly on the head, “do you think she’d understand what it means when we tell her not to hit?”

“Maybe, but you can’t be too sure just yet.” 

“We’ll look into it later, let’s go.” 

* * *

We walk out of the elevator, Amelia on Adena’s hip while I pushed the stroller into the lobby of Scarlet, “do you want to take her?” Adena asks.

“No, you hold her,” I smile, taking Adena’s free hand and walking into the office space, I greet the receptionist, and a few people that were apart of my team, congratulating me when they see Amelia, seeing as most of them didn’t know why I have been out.

“Hello Kat,” Jaqueline chimes, walking over from her office, “hello Adena. This must be Amelia.” 

“It is,” I chime.

“May I?” 

“Of course,” Adena smiles, handing her off to Jaqueline. 

“She looks like you, Kat. Come let’s catch up in my office,” she leads the way to her office, showing off Amelia and introducing her as my daughter to everyone. Once in her office, she shuts the door behind us, we gather on the couch where she puts Amelia on her lap. Amelia looks over at Adena and me with a smile as she grasps onto Jaqueline’s fingers before putting one into her mouth.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, she’s in that phase,” Adena apologizes as our daughter happily sucks on my boss’s finger.

“No worries, I washed up not too long ago, the makeup department was showing some new products and one was rather sticky and gross, I was just coming out of that meeting when I saw you two walk in. So how has everything been, how is motherhood treating you both?”

“We’re great, I love being home and being with our daughter, but I’m getting to that point where I am ready to come back to work for a little bit.” 

“Well, you know you can work from home whenever you want to, you only really have to show up for meetings, but I must say, Angie was a good choice to have sit in for you in your absence. I feel like she is the best addition to your team thus far.”

“Thank you, I felt that way when I first interviewed her, I knew she was going to be amazing.” 

“How about you Adena? I went to your recent showing and I must say, your recent work is rather beautiful.” 

“Thank you, it means a lot. Aside from photographing when I can for the showings, I’m home most of the time.” 

“Would you like a temp job for a few weeks? We haven’t been able to find someone nearly as great as you, and I’m sick of settling, so is Oliver. He would like if you would do one shoot for next month’s issue.” 

“I’ll discuss it with Kat later and get back to you.”

“That’s fine.” Jaqueline smile, turning Amelia around to face her, talking in baby talk, causing Amelia to laugh. I feel Adena take my hand, I look over to see her smiling at me, I smile back, leaning in to kiss her quickly, when there was a knock on the So or, we all look over to see Sutton standing there with a huge smile on her face, “my time is up with you, Amelia,” Jaqueline chimes, standing up with her and walking to her office door, “Sutton probably wants to show you the fashion department.” 

“I do, I’m just going to take her, and she her around,” Sutton says, walking away once Amelia was handed off to her. 

“If we ever need ten minutes to ourselves, we know where to come,” I tease, standing up from the couch with Adena.

“It was nice seeing you both. Kat, we’ll keep in touch. There is a meeting on Monday morning if you want to join us. And Adena, as soon as you can, please let me know about the job.” 

“Of course.” Adena nods. 

“I’ll try to be in on Monday.” We say our goodbyes before leaving to go find our daughter, she wasn’t in Oliver’s office, nor was she by Jane’s desk. The only place that made sense to look was the fashion closet. I lead Adena to the familiar space, opening the door to see Jane and Sutton sitting on of the ottomans with Amelia between them, “are you showing my daughter our hiding spot?” I chime, walking over and kneeling on the floor in front of them, Amelia smiles at me once I was eye level with her, reaching out to touch my face, “are you having fun?”

“She’s having a blast,” Sutton chimes. 

“She looks like she’s having fun,” Adena chimes, “you guys wouldn’t mind watching her for a little bit?”

“No problem,” Sutton says. 

“Just for ten minutes, we’ll just be downstairs, if anything happens we’ll be up here in a second,” She says, taking my hand in hers. 

“See you in a little bit, Lovebug,” I chime, kissing Amelia’s cheek before following Adena out of the room, “you want me to yourself for a little bit don’t you,” I say as we walk out of the elevator.

“I want to discuss what Jaqueline brought up, and if we don’t do it now we won’t get around to it.”

“I think you should take it.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean you like doing what you’re doing, but at the same time, I know you aren’t entirely happy. You like having a structure and working towards a deadline. I know that about you.” 

“I love you,” She smiles, stopping us for a moment to kiss me. 

“I love you too, and I still want to be home with Amelia so it works out.” 

“Wonderful,” she smiles, kissing me again before we go over and get coffee.  

“Can we talk for a minute about something else?” 

“Sure, anything,” Adena says, handing me what I ordered as we make our way towards one of the chairs scattered around the lobby. 

“How are we going to raise her, like religiously?”

“Well, you have said you weren’t raised very religious, I wouldn’t object to raising her in the Muslim faith, but we know I’m a bit lax in my own religion.”

“I feel like she should have something though, some faith or spirituality.”

“If you don’t mind the Muslim ideologies and faith, we can raise her with those philosophies and respects.” 

“I think that will be good for her.”

“So do I,” Adena smiles.

* * *

I walk into the kitchen, Adena was cooking something for dinner while Amelia was sat in her highchair, watching Adena with a smile before for looking over at me and reaching for me a bit. “Hello, Love,” I say, taking her out of her highchair and kissing her cheek before walking over to Adena.

“Hey.” 

“That smells good.” 

“Thank you, how was your day?”

“Long, I hated sitting in on the meetings. I didn’t miss it at all. How was your day?”

“We stayed home today, except for when we went to the market to get stuff for dinner.”

“Did anything exciting happen today? I feel like I could have missed out on a lot today.”

“Nothing, Love. You got all the milestones sent to you today with all the pictures,” Adena smiles, kissing me quickly. 

“Is everything okay?” I ask, confused by the mild attitude.

“We can talk later,” she says with a sigh. 

“Is it bad?”

“No, I was just annoyed,” she says, turning the burner on the stove to low, “your parents came by.”

“Really, they didn’t call me or anything.”

“Oh, well they come by and I don’t know how the conversation came to be, but it was brought up about raising Amelia as a Muslim.”

“So much for talking later,” I say, walking into the living room, putting Amelia on her playmat and sitting on the floor next to her, “what did they say?”

“They gave me so stupid reasoning as to why we shouldn’t raise her with a religion, that psychologically it could affect her, I don’t even remember.”

“My mom said that?”

“No, your dad did. I feel like he doesn’t like me and hasn’t liked me.”

“He does, I don’t see why he would say something like that.” 

“Well, he did. I don’t know, she’s our daughter and we came to that decision together.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“Of course. He didn’t care, I always feel like he’s constantly psychoanalyzing me.” 

“I’ll talk to him about it.” 

“Don’t make a big deal, your mom said she spoke to him.”

“Okay, but still. This is my family, you and Amelia are my family more so now than my parents are my family. If I want to give her a religious background, sobeit. I don’t want to raise her the way I was raised.”

“Calm down,” Adena says calmly, sitting down on the floor next to me and pulling me into her, “it’s like you just said, she is our daughter and we are going to raise her how we want to.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she smiles, kissing me sweetly. 


	16. Chapter 16

-Adena POV-

I was in our bedroom praying while I hear Kat walking around behind me, trying to be as quiet as possible. I heard her leave the room, a few moments later I hear a giggle coming from beside me, I look up for a moment, opening my eyes to see Amelia lying on her belly beside me with a smile on her face, she was eleven months old now, and was the exact copy of Kat, “Hello, Love,” I whisper as I finish up my prayer. I stand up, folding my prayer mat and putting it away. I go back over to where Amelia is sat, watching me curiously, “what?” I ask, picking her up I kiss her cheek, causing her to giggle. “You look like Mommy.” I walk downstairs with Amelia on my hip, I walk into the kitchen to see Kat fixing herself a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” Kat smiles walking over to kiss me. 

“Good morning, how are you?”

“Good, I don’t feel like going to work, but I have an important meeting today,” Kat whines.

“Can you leave after?”

“I’m going to try to.” 

“Okay,” I say, kissing her again, “say bye-bye to Mommy?” I ask Amelia, waving to Kat and seeing her mirror my motion. 

“My little girl is getting so big,” Kat coos, kissing Amelia on the cheek, “I don’t want to leave you.”

“Ma!” Amelia shouts, her pacifier falling from her mouth as Kat and I looked at her in amazement. Amelia looks at Kat, “Ma,” she says, leaning out of my hold to put her hand on Kat’s face. She then looks over at me with the same smile, “Ma!” she says again, placing her hand on my cheek. “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma.” 

“Now I really don’t want to leave,” Kat cries, taking Amelia from my arms and holding her close, “Lovebug is talking,” she says, kissing Amelia’s cheek repetitively. 

“What about your meeting?” I chimes, wiping the tears from my eyes that formed after Amelia acknowledged the fact that we are both in fact ‘Ma’. 

“I know, I hate being a working mom. Especially when something like this happens before I have to leave.” 

“You’ll be okay, I’ll record anything else that happens,” I say, taking Amelia back and kissing Kat, “I love you.”

“I love you too. I love you, Lovebug.” 

“Ma!” Amelia shouts again, laughing soon after. 

“I’m going to be late,” Kat whines as we walk her to the door, “I love you both,” she says, kissing me softly, I laugh, when we pull away Amelia is leaning in to kiss Kat. Once she leaves, rather reluctantly, I bring Amelia back into the kitchen, putting her in her high chair and preparing her breakfast. 

“Ma!” She shouts. 

“Amelia!” I say playfully, turning to face her to see a smile on her face. I put a few Cheerios on her tray, something I never remember as a child, but Kat it’s something she said her mom always did. I watch as Amelia looks at the cereal curiously before popping one into her mouth and smiling. I turn away from her, fixing her something better to eat, and listening to her babble and hum. After she eats, I bring her upstairs to change before bringing her back downstairs to Skype with my mother. We go into the living room, I put Amelia in her walker so she could move around the room easier, and call my mom. 

“Hello, Adena,” She says as soon as she comes on the screen, “where is Amelia?”

“Currently trotting around the room,” I say, turning in my chair and moving a bit so my mother could see her in the frame of the camera.

“Amelia,” Mother sings, causing the little girl to move in our direction.

“Ma!” Amelia shouts with a smile on her face. 

“She’s talking?”

“She started saying ‘Ma’ this morning, and she registers that she has two, so as of right now, Kat and I are both ‘Ma’,” I say with a smile, “Are you coming to her first birthday?”

“Yes, I booked the ticket, I get in on the twenty-first, and I leave the twenty-seventh.”

“That’s a short trip.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t find the time to stay longer with work and all.”

“It’s okay, Momma. We love when you visit no matter how long it is.” 

“I know, Love. I’m happy to see you too,” she smiles.

* * *

While Amelia was entertained by what she was watching on TV, I ran upstairs to get what I needed for my midday salat. I come back downstairs, setting down my mat in the living room, turning off the TV, much to Amelia’s disliking, and begin praying. Every so often I looked beside me to see Amelia trying to follow what I was doing as best as she could, I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Ma,” she giggles, patting the top of my head when I lean down, I sit back up again to see her sitting in front of me.

“You are distracting me,” I chime, getting in her face so I was literally nose-to-nose with her and she laughs. I pull her into my arms, peppering her face with kisses, “you’re lucky you’re cute like Mommy.”

“Ma!” 

“Yes, Ma.” I nod, kissing her cheeks again when I hear the front door open. I look over to see Kat walking into the house with a bag and a smile, “hey, you.”

“Hello. Are you…?”

“I’m done,” I smile, letting go of Amelia and bringing my things back upstairs, stopping to give Kat a kiss on my way. 

 

-Kat POV-

“Ma!” Amelia shouts from where she was sat on the rug. 

“Amelia,” I chime, walking into the living room, placing the to-go bag on the coffee table. I watch as she crawls towards the coffee table, pulling herself up, “are you going to start walking on your own today too?” I say, as she uses the coffee table for support to walk towards me, something she has been doing for a couple of weeks, still too scared to let go and walk on her own. Once she gets to me, she places her hands on my thigh to keep herself balanced. I lean down and give her a kiss, before taking mine and Adena’s lunch out of the bag. Amelia looks over at the salads curiously. “Adena?”

“Yes.” 

“Did you give Little Love anything to eat yet?”

“Yeah, before I started praying, she’s just nosy,” Adena says, walking into the room, picking up Amelia to sit on her lap. Adena puts the TV on, drawing Amelia’s attention towards it. “How was work?”

“Good, I just had meetings all day and figured I would come home for lunch and forget to go back,” I laugh.

“I see.”

“How was your day?”

“Very good, I spoke to my Mother, she said she is coming on the twenty-first, for Amelia’s birthday, and she’s only staying until the twenty-seventh.”

“That’s good, at least she can make it, how was Amelia?”

“She was good, kept saying ‘Ma’ all day.”

“You think she’ll start saying something else soon?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t put it past one syllable words, for now, I just hope the next word isn’t ‘no’,” Adena smiles. 

“We should go out tonight.”

“Is Sutton going to watch her?”

“No, I’ll call my parents. I spoke to my mom earlier and she said she was in the city for the week for some kind of conference, my dad is supposed to be joining but she wasn't sure.”  

“Okay. What did you have in mind tonight?”

“There’s a Scarlet party tonight.” 

“Ah, where?”

“Somewhere uptown.”

“When does it start?”

“Seven.” 

“Okay,” she sighs, “I’ll go.”

“You know you don’t have to if you really don’t want to.”

“I want to, it would be nice to get out of the house and go somewhere that isn’t work related.” 

“Wonderful, I can’t wait to go either.” 

“Ma,” Amelia says, pointing at the TV. We look over to see she was watching Sesame Street. 

“Is that her way of saying she doesn’t want to hear us talking anymore?” I ask, watching as she turns her attention back to Elmo.

“I guess so,” Adena says with a laugh.

* * *

“Love?” I call out.

“Yes?” Adena says, walking in from our bathroom. 

“Can you zip me?”

“Of course,” she smiles, doing what I ask, kissing my shoulder as she looks at me in the mirror, “you look beautiful.”

“So do you,” I smile, turning to kiss her sweetly before we make our way downstairs. I come around the corner to see my mom sitting on the couch, doing some work on her laptop, “we shouldn’t be back too late,” I say, causing her to look up, “she should stay sleeping, in the off chance she does wake up, there’s that monkey you bought her, the one that lights up and has the lullaby, she loves that. Sometimes she even pushes it herself,” I explain as Adena helps me into my coat, “if she feels feverish and you want to give her medicine, it’s in the hall bathroom, if you get concerned, don’t hesitate to call, what?” I ask, looking as my mom stands up, a small smile on her face. 

“Nothing, if I’m being honest, I never thought I would see you as a mother. So to see you giving me the rundown on how you want things handled, it’s nice,” she says, placing her hands on my shoulders, “but you have nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine.”

“It’s the first time we’re going out alone together since she was born, it feels like a big deal.”

“It isn’t. She will be okay if it is a true emergency I will call you, but you girls deserve some time to yourself to enjoy yourselves.” 

“I just want to say thank you again, Susan, for coming by on such short notice.”

“You’re welcome, now go before you’re too late.” 

 

* * *

 

“Do you want to find Jane and Sutton, or get a drink?” Adena asks as we walk into the party.

“Drink,” I say, taking her hand and lacing our fingers together. I lead us through the crowded room and over to the bar, ordering us each a drink. 

“Did you order a drink, drink?” 

“No, I got us both a soda with lime.”

“You can drink.”

“I don’t want to,” I say, shaking my head and handing her one of the drinks, “to us being out alone for the first time in nearly a year.”

“To us,” she smiles, tapping our glasses together and taking a sip of our drinks before Adena leans in to kiss me.

“Well if it isn’t the married, mothers, nice to see you out in the real world,” Sutton chimes, walking up behind us.

“We needed time to ourselves,” Adena chimes, “we deserve time to ourselves.”

“Amen, to that,” I chime, feeling Adena wrap her arm around my waist when I go to kiss the side of her head.

“Who’s watching Amelia?”

“My mom.”

“Oh, okay.”

“She started talking today. I was too busy this morning to come and find you to tell you.”

“Was her first word, Sutton?”

“No, it was Ma,” Adena says. 

“Hopefully the next one will be Sutton.”

“Odds are it may be no,” I say, “eventually she’ll say, Sutton.”

“When are you two going to try for another, if you want another?”

“Uhm,” I say, looking at Adena.

“We haven’t talked about it, Amelia isn’t even one yet, I think we’re going to wait for a little while,” Adena explains.

“I think maybe we should start talking about it?” I whisper in her ear. 

“Not right this minute, but when the time is right,” Adena says. 

“Okay,” I nod. The rest of the night went by rather quickly, seeing as Adena and I decided to leave early and spend the rest of the night together. We somehow ended up in a cafe near Central Park, enjoying a cup of tea and each other’s company. “Do you want to have another kid?” I ask, playing with the lid of my cup. 

“We discussed having two kids.”

“I know what we discussed, but I don’t know if I want to have another one, it would be nice to give Amelia a sibling, but I don’t know.” 

“Do you physically not want to have another child?” 

“Is it selfish if I say yes?”

“No,” Adena says, reaching over to take my hand in hers, “you know that I am the last person to force you to do something you aren’t comfortable with.” 

“I know, I just haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since Sutton brought it up.”

“Baby, you don’t have to think about any of that now. I don’t want you to think about any of that now. Little Love is only going to be a year old, there is a lot of growing for her to do and for us to witness, I don’t want to miss a minute of her growing up just to have another baby right away.”

“Okay,” I nod, “we should wait until we are ready again, and ready to give Amelia that. I think she would be more interested if she was older anyway, rather than having a baby now. I mean, I still want to have a little you running around. When the time is right, we will discuss our options.” 

“Like we always do,” Adena smiles. 


	17. Chapter 17

-Kat POV-

“Ma-mee!” Amelia chimes as I walk into her room to see her standing up in her crib. “Hi.”

“Hello, Little Love,” I say, walking over and kissing her cheek before lifting her out of the crib, “Happy Birthday.”

“Hi,” She says again with a giggle as I lie her down to change her, “Ma!” she shouts when Adena walks in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Love,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia’s forehead, “Hello,” she says, kissing me sweetly.

“Where did you run off to this morning?”

“I went to get Little Love here a few things for her party and my mother wanted to talk to me,” She says, wrapping her arm around my waist.

“What did your mom have to say?”

“Nothing bad, nothing about us or anything. Just family stuff.”

“Okay.”

“Ma!” Amelia shouts when I finish changing her.

“Come on Love,” Adena smiles, taking Amelia from the changing table, “Want to go see Nana?”

“Na!”

“We’ll meet you downstairs?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to take a shower.”

“Okay,” Adena smiles, making her way out of Amelia’s room. I make my way into our bathroom, turning the shower on. I step into the shower, letting the warm water wash over me when I hear the slight scratching sound of the shower curtain being pulled back, and Adena’s warm body press against my back.

“I knew your ears perked up when I said I was going in the shower,” I laugh, turning to face Adena who was looking at me with a smirk.

“Why would I pass up showering with you when my mother is here to watch our daughter?”

“Seeing as we usually do this when Amelia is asleep, what did you tell your mother?”

“That I wanted to shower and get ready for the day.”

“Because then it wouldn’t be obvious we were in here together,” I laugh, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“I don’t care what my mother thinks, you’re my wife.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice, we just can’t take too long,” I say when Adena starts to kiss my neck, I feel her hand slide between my thighs.

“You’re going to have to be quick then,” she says with a husky tone in my ear.

“Not too quick though,” I mumbled, grabbing her hand to slow down her movements.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

I stood in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around me while Adena fished actually showering, seeing as we managed to get distracted, “Love, can you hand me my towel?” she asks, pulling back the curtain, I stand up straighter, looking at the reflection if her in the mirror.

“At this point, you can get it yourself,” I tease.

“It’s fun to see you flustered though,” Adena laughs, reaching over to get her towel off its hook. She steps out of the shower, kissing my cheek before walking into the bedroom. I follow her into the room and we both get dressed, stealing glances at her and there, once Adena was done, she walked over to me and kissed me before leaving the room. After I get dressed, I make my way downstairs to see Padma, Adena, and Amelia in the living room.

“Ma-mee!” Amelia says, standing up from where she was sat and walking towards me in her walker toy. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I chime, picking her up and kissing her cheeks.

“When is everyone coming over?”

“Around three, I think,” Adena says.

“We still have time to set up. Want to come with me?” I ask Amelia.

“Ya!”

“We’ll be in the kitchen,” I say, Amelia smiles, taking in slight nonsense, “are you excited for your birthday?”

“Cake.”

“You get your sweet tooth from me.”

“Toof,” she says, pointing to one of her teeth.

“You are so smart, Love,” I say, putting her in her highchair and giving her something to snack on, “we’re going to count,” I say, grabbing one for her snacks from the cabinet. “One.”

“One!”

“Two,” I say, putting down another.

“Two.”

“Three.”

“Free!”

“You are so smart,” I say, leaning over to kiss her.

“Wuv!” Amelia smiles before eating her snack, I look over to see Adena standing in the doorway with her camera, “Ma!” Amelia shouts, even in her single year of life, she was started to get annoyed with all the pictures Adena was taking.

“Sorry,” Adena says, putting the camera down, once the camera was out of Adena’s hands, Amelia went back to eating, “do you need any help?” She asks, walking over to me, and rubbing my back.

“No, I’m good, we cheated and ordered everything, so,” I shrug kissing her quickly.

“Okay.”

“Ma!”

“What?” Adena asks, walking over to Amelia who then handed her a piece of the cracker she was eating, “thank you.”

“Can you believe she’s a year old already?”

“No, I don’t want to think about that, I’ll start crying.”

“She still has a lot of growing to do.”

“I know, but still.”

“Everything will be okay, and she will be a wonderful little girl and a young lady,” Padma says, walking into the kitchen and fixing herself a cup of tea, “you girls, I have to say, are doing an amazing job. I didn’t know what kind of parents you were going to be, I wasn’t sure of the type of mother Adena was going to be, but I know now that I shouldn’t have worried about anything.”

“Thank you for saying that, Momma,” Adena says, walking over to give her mother a hug.

“Yeah, it means a lot.”

“I know that I am far away, but I mean it, and I see it when I call you girls and see how Amelia is growing up, she is becoming such a well rounded little girl,” Padma says, walking over to kiss the top of Amelia’s head.

“Na!” Amelia smiles.

“Hello, beautiful girl.”

“Hi.”

* * *

Adena, are you done taking photos of her?” I ask. Amelia’s party was in full swing, for the most part, it was only adults here to celebrate with us, but it was still welcoming and nice to think that Amelia was surrounded by so much life to celebrate her first year of life. Adena and I had everyone gather into the dining room, where we had Amelia set up in her highchair with her blue cupcake for her to eat. From the moment Amelia began eating the cupcake, more or less really just shoving it into her face, Adena was taking pictures, “I would like one or two with the three of us.”

“Okay, Momma, can you take it with my camera?”

“Of course, Love,” Padma smiles, taking Adena’s rather expensive camera and taking the picture.

“Sutton, take on my phone please,” Sutton does what is asked of her before handing me my phone.

“Your family is so cute,” Sutton coos, showing me the picture on my phone.

“Thank you,” Adena and I say at the same time, Adena and I laugh before I lean in and kiss her on the cheek.

* * *

Adena was already in bed by the time I got upstairs. Sutton and Jane chose to stay late to help clean up, which turned into us talking about different things going on in our lives. I change quickly before leaving the room to check in on Amelia, who was sound asleep as she clutched her stuffed elephant close to her. I kiss her gently on the forehead, making my way back to our bedroom, Adena stirs slightly as I climb into bed behind her, “Jane and Sutton left?” she mumbles.

“Yeah, not too long ago, we got caught up talking.”

“Okay,” she mumbles against my neck, kissing me there as I wrap my arms around her.

“Goodnight, Love,” I say, kissing her forehead.

“Night.”

* * *

I wake up to the weight of a little person sitting on my abdomen, followed by a giggle. I open my eyes to see Amelia smiling at me, leaning forward to rest her head on my chest, “good morning, Little Love,” I say, running my fingers through her wildly curly hair.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” I smile.

“Good morning,” Adena chimes, walking in and lying down beside me, causing Amelia to stand up on the bed, I sit up, holding her so she wouldn’t fall over, Adena looks over at me with a smile, kissing me softly.

“Good morning," I whisper against her lips, kissing her again.

“Ma!”

“Hello, Little Love,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia’s forehead.

“What are we going to do today?”

“Stay in, unless you have something better in mind.”

“I was thinking we take Little Love to a museum, see the dinosaurs.”

“Ya!”

“So it has been decided,” Adena chimes, “I’ll start getting everything ready.”

“We don’t have to rush,” I say, pulling Adena back into bed, “we have all day, it’s early yet.”

  
“Okay,” Adena says, taking Amelia in her arms.

“Ma,” Amelia smiles.

“When do you think we should start weaning her off of this thing?” Adena asks, taking the pacifier from Amelia’s mouth.

“Once she’s around two, we’ll only have her use it for naps and bedtime.”

“Have you been reading the parenting books?”

“Yeah, actually. A lot of websites and blogs too when I’m at work.”

“I read them all the time too,” Adena smiles, “I just never thought to look into a pacifier situation.”

“I stumbled upon it one day. It said that by the age of two we should start limiting her to just sleeping times, then stop offering it at naptime, and then bedtime. I want her off of it all together well before she’s three, just to avoid dental issues.”

“We’re talking about it like it’s a drug,” Adena laughs.

“It could very well be treated as one.”

“Well, she’s just a year old, so we have time.”

“Fourteen months.”

“Oh, excuse me for not wanting to sound like one of those yuppies who say their child’s age like its a technical detail.”

“I know, but still. I think it’s important to be exact until she’s two, there are still a lot of developmental milestones that take place at specific times until she’s about two or three.”

“I know, Love. Amelia is one, and she’s very smart for a one-year-old.”

“I know,” I sigh, looking over to see Amelia was preoccupied playing with her elephant as she lies between Adena and myself, “I love you, Little Love,” I say, kissing her forehead.

“Wuv!” She says, sitting up to kiss my cheek.   
“How do you think she’s going to be when she’s older?”

“Older like a teenager, or older like ready to go to kindergarten?”

“We’ll start with kindergarten.”

“I think she’s going to be one of the sweetest little girls ever.”

“Are we going to go with public school or private school?”

“We can afford private, but I think she’d get more out of being in public. She meets a lot of different kids, and be exposed to more than being in a private school, I think. But we could always look into charter schools.”

“I didn’t think about charter schools, maybe we’ll look into that,” I say, grabbing my iPad from the bedside table.

“Are you doing research now?”

“Never too early.”

“What about going to the museum?”

“Right, we’ll look later.”

“Of course,” Adena smiles.

* * *

I watch as Adena chases after Amelia, both laughing as we walk through th= African Mammals exhibit. Amelia runs up to the elephants in the middle of the room and looks up, “Ma!” she shouts as Adena catches up to her, pointing at the elephants, “Ellie!”

“They are like Ellie,” Adena says as I walk up behind them.

“Big.”

“Yes, they are,” Adena says, scooping Amelia up into her arms and kissing her cheek, “do you want to see anything specific, Love?” She asks, wrapping her arm around my waist.

“No, I’m enjoying myself. I’m enjoying watching you teach her so much.”

“You’re falling in love with me for the thousandth time?” Adena teases with a smile.

“Millionth,” I smile, kissing her softly.

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

“Wuv!” Amelia smiles, “down.”

“No, you can’t run around.”

“Down,” Amelia whines, wiggling from Adena’s arms.

“You have to hold my hand,” Adena says as she puts Amelia down, taking her hand before for feet touch the floor.

“Sit,” Amelia says, walking over to sit in her stroller.

“Do you want me to push her?”

“No, I got it,” I smile, kissing Adena quickly. We continue to walk through the museum, Amelia pointing to different things along the way, saying “whoa” whenever it was something she was very interested in. We come to one of the prehistoric exhibits, much to Amelia’s excitement, she begins to jump out of the stroller and run towards one of the creatures with Adena close behind her. Seeing Adena with Amelia was one of my favorite things, especially because of how caring and thoughtful Adena is with everything she says and teaches Amelia. Adena would explain things to the best of her ability but never brought it down to Amelia’s level in the sense of treating her like she was a toddler, Adena still stayed at a higher level no matter what she was explaining, and Amelia would look at her, taking in every word that was being said, and retaining it as it was explained. Adena turns around and looks at me, a smile playing on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I smile, shaking my head, leaning in to kiss her cheek. I turn to see Amelia fast asleep with her head on Adena’s shoulder.  
“Is she sleeping?” Adena asks quietly, “I wasn’t too sure, but I also didn’t want to chance waking her up.

“Yeah, she’s asleep,” I say, brushing some of Amelia’s curls from her face, “you bored her with all of your knowledge,” I tease.

“She learned too much and it tired her out.”

“Let’s take her home.”

“I was planning on leaving her with the elephants,” Adena chimes.

“You don’t even like when we leave her for a couple of hours to get dinner together.”

“I know, I love her too much.”


	18. Chapter 18

-Kat POV-

I walk through the door, after a fairly long day, to see Amelia giggling as she runs past me with Adena close behind her. The two of them playing a game, I couldn’t help but smile as I set my bag down and kicked off my shoes, “Hi Love,” Adena stops quick, kissing me before continuing her second lap with Amelia as they ran through the kitchen, into the dining room and back again. I scoop up Amelia before she has a chance to start again.

“Mommy!” She shouts, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Hi, Baby,” I say, kissing her cheek, “did you have a good day.”

“Mama a monster!”

“You were playing monster?” I asked the two-year-old.

“Yeah!”

“Is it fun?” I ask, walking into the living room and setting her down on the couch.

“Yeah.”

“How was work?” Adena asks, sitting beside me.

“Long, a lot of meetings, there are a couple of parties I have to plan on going to. There may also be a trip.”

“Where?”

“Paris.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, would you want to come with me?”

“Amelia can come too right?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t go if she wasn’t allowed to go.”

“When it that?”

“In a couple of months, we just have to start looking into it now.”

“Okay, we just have to get her a passport.”

“I already filled out the paperwork, we just need her to sit still long enough for the right photo.”

“I’ll take care of that with her tomorrow,” Adena smiles, “I talked to my manager today?”

“How does your new showing look?”

“Good, it’s scheduled for next weekend.”

“Wonderful.”

“Mommy.”

“What?”

“Hungry,” Amelia says, patting her belly.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Macaroni!”

“Sweetie, you can’t just eat macaroni and cheese,” Adena chimes.

“Yes.”

“No, Maman is right.”

“No,” She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You have to eat a vegetable, you know that.”

“Okay,” she says with a sigh, climbing down from the couch.

“She’s so sassy at two,” Adena says, getting up from the couch.

“I was a sassy toddler.”

“I know, your mother told me,” I smile, getting up from the couch and following the girls into the kitchen, “She also said you were a very picky eater, so I shouldn’t be surprised if Amelia turned out to be one,” Adena chimes.

“Glad to know my mother is giving away all of my childhood secrets.”

“My mother will give away all of mine too when we have our next one.”

“Yeah,” I say quietly, looking down at the floor.

“What?”

“I, uhm, I got my period,” I say quietly, looking up to see Adena come over to hug me tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We can still try.”

“Yeah, but we only can try one more time.”

“We can try, if we have to adopt, we’ll adopt.”

“Okay,” Adena smiles sadly before leaning in to kiss me, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Wuv you!” Amelia chimes.

“Of course we love you, Little Love,” I say, walking over and kissing Amelia’s cheek, “I’m going to shower quick, and I’ll be back down.

* * *

“Did she go to bed easy?” Adena asks, sitting up in bed as I walk into our room, throwing myself on the bed.

“Two stories and a lullaby later.”

“Tonight was harder than usual?”

“Yeah, a bit,” I say, resting my head on Adena’s chest. I feel Adena run her fingers through my hair.

“Are you nervous about having another baby?”

“No, I’m nervous about it not working again, it’s been three times since we started again and it hasn’t worked.”

“Are you okay?”

“Everything with me is fine, your eggs just don’t seem to like me.”

“I’m sorry my eggs don’t like you,” she says, kissing the top of my head, “but we can still try one more time, who knows, maybe it’ll take.”

“That would have to wait until after we get back from Paris. I don’t want to be pregnant and have to work and travel.”

“Are you fully obligated to go to Paris?”

“No, but why not? I’ve always gone, except the past few years, it wasn’t in the budget, and now that Amelia is really old enough to travel, I want her to experience the world. Besides, you’ll be taking so many pictures of her and I’m sure you’d like to see the city again.”

“It’s been a while,” Adena smiles, “I would like to go.”

“So it’s settled, we’re going.”

“Okay,” Adena chuckles, as I move to straddle her waist, leaning down to kiss her, “I wanted to talk to you about something,” Adena says, I sit back as she sits up, putting her hands on my back to still keep me in place.

“Okay,” I say, playing with the loose curls around her neck.

“How would you feel about me going upstate for a few days?”

“Why?”

“I want to go to a photographers retreat for a couple of days on my own.”

“Oh? Is it just a weekend?”

“Yeah, I’ve done it before, but not in a long time, and I think it would be good for me. It would be good to put out something different.”

“Okay, do whatever it is you have to do. You know I don’t want to come between you and your work.”

“And I love that about you, and always have,” Adena smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

“It will be good for your work,” I chime, kissing her again when we hear Amelia’s cries begin to fill the room through the baby monitor, “I’ll go get her.”

“I’ll go, you rest.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be right back,” I kiss her again before walking out of the room and into Amelia’s.

“Mommy,” Amelia whines, standing up in her crib with her arms stretched towards me.

“What’s wrong, Love?”

“Hot.” I walk up to her, placing the back of my hand on her forehead to feel that she was abnormally hot.

“Adena!” I call out, knowing she was listening on the baby monitor, “bring me the thermometer and baby Motrin.” I take Amelia out of her crib, unzipping her onesie.

“She has a fever?” Adena asks, walking in with what I asked her for.

“That’s what I want to find out,” I chime, taking the thermometer from Adena.

“Ma, hot,” Amelia tells Adena.

“I’m sorry, Little Love. Mommy and I are going to make it better,” Adena says, taking Amelia’s hand and kissing it quickly. After getting Amelia’s temperature, suspicions were confirmed, and now it was a matter of getting the toddler to take her medicine. “Would you like me to get her some juice?”

“Please,” I say, kissing Adena’s cheek, “come on, Bug. Let’s get you in something cooler,” I say, leading her to the changing table and sitting her down, I take off the onesie she had on and put her into something lighter all in the time it took for Adena to come back with Amelia’s cup full of juice.

“Juice!” Amelia smiles, reaching out for her cup.

“Here you go, Love.”

“Tricked?” I whisper, smiling as Amelia drinks down her juice. It took a few fevers and the battles that came along with them for us to discuss with the doctor about putting her fever medication in her juice, thankfully the pediatrician approved and said it wasn’t uncommon for toddlers to battle taking medicine.

“Of course, is she sleeping with us?”

“I think it will be best. It may just be a long night.”

“Okay, I’m going to go make a cup of tea, would you want one?”

“Please,” I say, handing her the sippy cup when Amelia was finished.

“More, pwease.”

“Just for saying please, I will bring you back some,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia on the cheek. I make sure to grab Amelia’s elephant before making my way into our room, lying Amelia down in the middle of the bed.

“Big bed.”

“Yes, Love. Only because you aren’t feeling good.

“Hot.”

“Hot, Love.” I coo, kissing her forehead. As much as Adena and I hated watching TV anywhere but the living room, I put on the one we have in our room, finding an episode of Mickey Mouse for Amelia to enjoy while we waited for the medicine to kick in. A small smile plays on her face when she sees Adena walk in with more juice as well as two cups of tea for her and myself. “Thank you, Baby.”

“You’re welcome,” She chimes, kissing me softly.

“Thank Ma,” Amelia chimes, taking the sippy cup.

“You’re welcome, Love,” Adena says, kissing her forehead before climbing into bed. The three of us get comfortable as we watch TV. The only one remotely interested was, of course, Amelia. A couple of hours later, I was lost in work, when I hear light snores coming from my left. I look over to see both Amelia and Adena fast asleep, I smile as I take a quick picture of them both. I turn off the TV and make myself comfortable when Amelia begins to whine. I sigh as she opens her eyes and looks at me with a frown, “is she okay?” Adena mumbles, her voice thick with sleep when she opens an eye and looks over at me. I feel Amelia’s forehead, it isn’t as hot as it was earlier.

“She feels cooler.”

“Good,” Adena mumbles, turning to lie on her back.

“Ma.”

“Yes, Love?”

“Wuv,” Amelia says, moving to lay her head on Adena’s chest.

“I love you too, Little One. What time is it?”

“Nearly three in the morning.”

“Have you slept?”

“No.”

“Why is that?”

“I was lost in the world of Twitter, and doing some work. I couldn’t find it to sleep and I wasn’t tired.”

“Go to sleep, Love,” she says, reaching across Amelia to take my hand in hers.

“I’ll try,” I say, turning to get comfortable, looking over to see Amelia fell back to sleep.

* * *

“Sweetheart, let Mommy sleep,” I hear Adena whisper. I open my eyes to see Amelia trying to climb back into bed on Adena’s side.

“Mommy.”

“Yes, Love?” I mumbled, sitting up and helping her onto the bed, “how is she feeling?”

“She seems better. I took her temperature is it was low grade. Do you want a coffee?”

“I’ll come down and get it.”

“No, stay. I’ll be right back,” she smiles, kissing me quickly.

“Mommy. Tired.”

“Me or you?” I ask, taking her pacifier from her mouth.

“You.”

“Yes, I am tired.”

“Mickey,” she says, pointing at the TV. I turn it on, only giving in because she doesn’t feel good and I think she knows that. Adena comes back soon after with a cup of coffee for me and some juice for Amelia.

“Thank you, Love.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, sitting down beside me, wrapping her arm around my waist, “I love you,” she whispers in my ear, kissing the side of my head.

“What’s wrong?”

“As much as I don’t want to leave, I have a meeting this afternoon, Firuze called me.”

“Are you going to be long?”

“No, just a quick meeting with her over coffee, she has to discuss a few showings I have coming up.”

“Okay,” I nod as she leans in to kiss me.

“Do you need me to bring anything home?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m tired,” I whine, resting my head on her shoulder.

“Do you want me to reschedule?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“You know I will,” she says, running her fingers through my hair.

“No, go. I’ll just keep her up here and let her watch TV.”

“Okay,” she whispers, kissing me softly before getting ready to go.

 

-Adena POV-

I walk through the door after my meeting, kicking off my shoes, before walking into the kitchen to drop off the bags I had from the grocery store. I go upstairs to see Amelia and Kat sound asleep. I smile, snapping a quick picture of them on my phone, Kat, and her mini-me. I stand in the doorway watching them for a moment, smiling to myself as I try to figure out how I got so lucky. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, one of my prayer alarms going off, I gather my thing quietly and make my way downstairs to start my salat. Along with praying for Kat and Amelia, and asking Allah to protect them when I am not around to do so myself, I also ask for the blessing of another child. I ask Allah to bring me a child that is biologically mine, seeing as I still have a small resentment in the fact that Amelia isn’t entirely mine, but grateful for her gift nonetheless. As I do every day, I beg for another child. I feel myself grow upset as I continue asking for what I want. I end my prayer and sit up, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves when I hear the squeak of a loose floorboard from the hallway, I turn to see Kat walking towards me with a lazy smile, “when did you get home?”

“About twenty minutes ago, you were sleeping, I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You never bother me,” Kat chimes as I walk towards her, pulling her in for a kiss.

“I know, but you and Little Love were so peaceful. How is she?”

“Better.”

“I bought stuff to make soup, I figured she would rather have something not too heavy and it’s pretty cold out.”

“Sounds good,” Kat says, taking my hands in hers.

“What’s wrong?”

“What if we aren’t meant to have a baby again?”

“Don’t say that,” I shake my head.

“I know, but still.”

“I hope that this time everything falls into place.”

“I know they will. I have hope,” I mumble into her neck when she pulls me in for a hug.

“As long as you have hope, I’ll have hope.”

“You could always pray,” I tease.

“I do. Trust me, when it comes to things like that I do.”

“I never thought I would hear you say that you pray.”

“I do occasionally. It may not be the same way as you, it may not be to the same God as you, but whatever God is around to listen to me, I ask them to help.”

“God is God. We may call them by a different name, but Allah and God are the same being.”

“With all these years we’ve been together.”

“Almost five,” I chime.

“I don’t think we’ve ever talked about religion.”

“It’s never too late, I think topics like this are open to talking about no matter what or when. We can always talk about it. You know I’ll answer any of the questions you may have as well, don’t hesitate to ask me anything. You are my wife and I love you no matter what, and I will never judge anything you have to say.”

“I love you,” Kat smiles, wrapping me in her arms. 


	19. Chapter 19

-Adena POV-

“Mama, we going?” Amelia asks in a broken sentence as I carried her down the street.

“We’re getting Mommy a present.”

“Mommy, birthday.”

“Yes, it’s Mommy’s birthday, we’re going to get her something pretty for her present.”

“Okay,” Amelia chimes, “have a treat?”

“Can I have a treat?” I say to her.

“Can I have a treat?” She repeats with a smile.

“Yes, you may. But we have to get Mommy her present first.”

“Okay.” We walk into the building where my studio was, making our way upstairs. “Take pictures?”

“No love, my friend left the present here,” I explain when we reach the door, I unlock it, putting Amelia down. As soon as her feet hit the floor she runs off to the play area I made up for her. I walk over to my desk where Kat’s gift was leaning against the table.

“Play, Mama?”

“You can play for a little bit,” I say, smiling when she starts singing a song in Farsi. I reach into my bag when I hear my phone begin to ring, “Hey, Love.”

“Hey, where are you?”

“I took Amelia to the studio for a little bit, I had to make a few prints.”

“Oh, okay. I came home for lunch.”

“I’m sorry we aren’t there. It was last minute, I just wanted to get out of the house.”

“It’s okay, I’m not able to stay long anyway.”

“Okay, want to talk to Amelia?”

“No, it’s okay. She’s at the stage where she’s forming sentences but they run together and it’s frustrating to listen to sometimes.”

“I understand,” I say with a laugh, “does it make us bad parents?”

“I wouldn’t say so.”

“Good. I’ll let you get back to work, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Wuv you!” Amelia shouts from the corner.

“Let her know I love her,” Kat chimes.

“Always.” I hang up, putting the phone back in my bag.

“Mommy says she loves you.”

“Wuv Mommy,” the two-and-a-half-year-old chimes.

“So do I. Want to go get your treat?”

“Pwease.”

 

-Kat POV-

“Mommy birthday!” Amelia sings as I walk into the living room to see her watching cartoons and eating a half of a banana.

“Thank you, Sweetie,” I say, sitting down on the couch. Amelia walks over to me, climbs up on the couch and kisses my cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Love.” Adena chimes, walking into the room and leaning over to kiss me.

“Thank you, Baby.”

“Present Mama!”

“Not now, Love. We’ll give it to her later.”

“Okay,” Amelia says, getting down from the couch and watching her show.

“How does it feel?”

“Being old?”

“You’re thirty, you’re still young.”

“Now you sound old, you’re only thirty-three.”

“We’re both still young,” Adena chimes, sitting on my lap before kissing me, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I chime, kissing her again.

  
“What do you want to do today?”

“Relax.”

“Is anyone coming over?”

“No, my parents are away for the week, which isn’t a big deal. Sutton and Jane aren’t coming by because I asked them not to. I just want to spend time with you and Amelia for my birthday. I know it seems odd seeing as I spend my time with both of you constantly, but I’d rather be with you two instead of getting drunk with Sutton and Jane for my birthday. We could always get together this weekend to celebrate,” I say, running my hand up and down her thigh.

“It’s your day,” Adena chimes, leaning in to kiss me.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, Love?”

“Moana.”

“You want to watch Moana?”

“Pwease.”

“Can you put it on?” I ask Adena.

“Remind me to kick Sutton’s butt for introducing her to this movie.”

“No kick Auntie’s butt.”

“Maman won’t kick Auntie Sutton’s butt.”

“Wuv her.”

“I know, Bug, come here,” I say, patting the couch beside me. She smiles, running over and climbing up beside me, “the only reason Sutton showed her this movie is because Sutton is a big child and just watched it last week on Netflix after having too much grape juice.”

“Yeah, well we all know Sutton needs to cut back on the grape juice.”

“She will. That’s her life.”

“I know, I know. Do you want a coffee?”

“No, thank you.” Amelia settles into my side, her elephant tucked under her arm.

“I’ll be around.”

“You’re not going to watch?”

“I’ve watched it several times already, it’s on a few times when you are at work. Actually, would you mind if I run to the studio for a little bit? I forgot something when I went yesterday.”

“No problem. Can you bring me something?”

“What do you want?”

“Sushi for lunch.”

“Okay,” Adena nods, kissing me and then kissing Amelia’s forehead. Adena leaves a short time later, leaving Amelia and me to continue watching the movie.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, Love?”

“Make a fort?”

“You want a pillow fort?”

“Yeah,” the toddler says.

“Okay, let’s pause the movie first,” I say, following the action before getting off of the couch. Amelia runs over to the basket in the corner, trying her best to pull out the three blankets we always used as for the pillow forts we’ve built in the past.

“Make a big one?”

“How big?”

“This big!” she exaggerates, stretching her arms out to their full wingspan.

“That’s huge. I’ll see what we can do,” I say, playing to her imagination. The fort is built within ten minutes or so, much to Amelia’s excitement.

“Mommy, I love you.”

“I love you too, good job with your full sentence,” I say, giving her a high five.

“Thank you,” Amelia chimes, walking over to wrap her arms around my legs, I bend over, picking her up and kissing her cheek.

“You’re welcome. Are you hungry?”

“Strawberries.”

“So you are hungry?” I say playfully walking into the kitchen, I sit her on the counter next to the fridge. I open the fridge, getting out the container of cut up strawberries. Ever since Amelia was old enough to start eating solid foods, Adena took it upon herself to precut everything for Amelia and put it in separate containers. Adena always being more organized and ahead of things than I am. I put a few in a bowl, filling up one of her sippy cups with water and going back into the living room much to her excitement.

“Thank you,” she chimes, taking the items from me and making herself comfortable. I move the TV from its table to the floor so Amelia and I could watch the movie more comfortably. Once we start the movie from where we left off, Amelia rests her head in my lap, I subconsciously begin running my fingers through her curly hair.

“Anyone home?” I hear Sutton call out, Amelia jumps up with a smile on her face.

“You can go,” I say, watching as she runs out of the fort.

“Hello, Little Kat!” I hear Sutton chime as I make my way out of the fort, “Happy Birthday!” She says, walking over to hug me as she props Amelia on her hip.

“Thank you,” I smile as she kisses my cheek, “what are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t not see my best friend on her thirtieth birthday! No matter what you say, I was stopping in. And I’m on a mission for Oliver so I was out of the office.”

“Bring me a present?” Amelia asks with a smile.

“Sweetheart, Sutton doesn’t always have to bring you something. You’re lucky Adena isn’t here to hear that.”

“Adena doesn’t like that I spoil her, I know. But I don’t care what Adena thinks.”

“I know you don’t but sometimes she complains about it to me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, just curb it a little.”

“I will,” Sutton nods, “do you want your present?”

“Pwease,” Amelia chimes, wiggling out of Sutton’s hold. Sutton reaches into her bag, pulling out two small boxes.

“One is for Mommy,” Sutton says, handing one to me and the other to Amelia, “and this one is for Mama,” she says, pulling out a third box.

“Mama present.”

“Yes, I even got Mama a present. You can open them when she gets back, I suggest it.”

“Okay,” I nod.

“Wait?” Amelia chimes, handing the box to me.

“Yes, we have to wait.”

“Okay, Moana?”

“We can watch something else.”

“Coco?”

“We can watch Coco,” I smile, watching as she goes back into the living, “I get to catch up on all the Disney movies I missed.”

“It gives you a good excuse to watch them, rather than just being drunk and bored.”

“She gets so into it, Sutton, I love seeing her so excited about it.”

“Do you like being a parent?”

“Yeah, I like seeing her grow up and learn new things. It’s nice, I try to be the nice one, Adena is with her more during the day so I let her be the bad guy,” I chuckle.

“I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

“I have to go before Oliver calls me to kill me, Happy Birthday, and I’ll see you this weekend?”

“Yes, the three of us are getting drinks.”

“Okay,” Sutton smiles, wrapping me in a hug, “Bye, Amelia,” she called out. Amelia pokes her head out from the entryway of the fort.

“Bye-bye,” Amelia waves. Once Sutton leaves, Amelia and I settle back into the fort to continue our movie marathon of sorts.

“I leave and you make a fort without me?” Adena chimes, crawling in to sit next to me.

“Mommy is better.”

“Mommy makes a better fort than me?”

“Yes.”

“I can agree with that. Mine don’t stay up for very long,” Adena says, kissing the side of my head, “are we going to have lunch in here?”

“Of course,” I say, kissing Adena properly, “it’s my birthday and I would like to have lunch in my fort.”

“My fort!” Amelia chimes.

“Our fort,” I clarify as the little girl sits in my lap.

“Okay, you are both lucky I love you so much, I’m just going to change and then I’ll be back. I picked up something else while I was out too.”

“Dessert?”

“Of course, you’re favorite.”

“You went over to Brooklyn?”

“I did.”

“I love you so much,” I say, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her.

“Let me go, I’ll be back, what are we watching after Coco?”

“Doggies!”

“Doggies?”

“One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” Adena clarifies before exiting the fort.

“Yeah! Doggies.” Amelia smiles. Adena returns a little while later with a couple of takeout bags, a couple of dishes, and a tray that she would use whenever she would make me breakfast in bed. She sets up the tray so it forms a little table in front of us and puts out containers of sushi on it before handing Amelia a container with macaroni and cheese, as well as some cooked broccoli in another, “yummy!” the little girl chimes, thankfully she was growing out of her picky phase and was beginning to enjoy vegetables, much to the excitement of Adena and I. Adena the hands her a sippy cup of milk. We all enjoy our lunch as we watch the dalmatians. Adena and I look over to see Amelia curled up into a ball fast asleep. We turn off the TV and make our way out of the fort.

“You stayed in pajamas all day?” Adena laughs as we walk into the kitchen with the things from lunch.

“I am not ashamed of it either, we took a couple of breaks, and made sure we washed our faces and brushed our teeth,” I chime, sitting on the counter. Adena smiles, stepping between my legs, leaning up and kissing me softly, “I like my lazy days.”

“I know you do, Love,” she says, kissing me again as she places her hands on my thighs, “we’re going to wait until she wakes up to give you your gifts.”

“Okay. Sutton stopped by, she brought all three of us something.”

“She did?”

“Yes, she seemed like it is something that all of us with appreciate,” I shrug.

“Well, I look forward to seeing what it is,” Adena smiles, kissing me again, “can we talk seriously for a minute?”

“It seems hard to not go a day without being serious for a moment with you.”

“You know I like to plan,” she smiles as she caressed my cheek.

“I know.”

“Are we going to Paris?”

“The budget isn’t there for it this season, so we aren’t.”

“Are we going to try again?”

“Adena, I don't want to talk about this today,” I say, getting down from the counter and shaking my head.

“Kat,” she says, following me up to our room.

“No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s my birthday and I don’t want to talk about my fertility and having another baby today, I don’t.”

“Why did you say it like that?”

“What are you asking?”

“This has never been a fertility issue?”

“But it is, there’s a reason why this hasn’t been working, and of course fertility has something to do with it.”

“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” Adena asks gently, reaching to take my hands in hers.

“No, of course not. I tell you everything as far as babies are concerned, I just really don’t feel like talking about it today. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“We’ll talk about it when you’re ready to.”

“Thank you,” I say, resting my forehead against hers.

“Mommy!” Amelia shouts up the stairs, I pull back from Adena and make my way to Amelia who was sitting on the bottom of the stairs playing with a doll, “where Mama?”

“She’s upstairs,” I say, picking Amelia up and holding her close.

“Presents?”

“We can open presents,” Adena says, walking down the stairs, her eyes a little puffy and red.

“Mama, okay?”

“I’m okay,” Adena says, kissing Amelia on the cheek.

“Mama sad?”

“I don’t know, Baby. Let’s go see if we can make her happy.”

“Give her kisses.”

“We’ll give her kisses,” I smile leading us back into our pillow fort. Amelia and I get comfortable as we wait for Adena. I’m teaching Amelia to count to five when Adena comes in with a smile on her face and a few different things in her hands, “are you okay?” I ask her quietly.

“Yes, I am sorry for before. I don’t want to push you and I didn’t mean to push you.”

“It’s okay, I know the underlying factor and it upsets me just as much as it upsets you.”

“Presents!”

“Yes, we have our present and Sutton’s presents,” Adena says, kissing me quickly before bringing the attention to something that was fairly large, but thin. I thought it could possibly be a photo of Amelia or something along those lines and I wouldn’t be surprised, “this is from Amelia and me, but I do have something for you later.”

“Okay,” I whisper, pulling the paper off of the item to reveal a canvas with sound waves painted on it.

“I had a friend who does recordings and ADR for movies and stuff do it. Amelia said ‘I love you’ into a mic and those are the waves of her voice,” Adena explains with a smile.

“I love it,” I chime, leaning in to kiss Adena before turning to see Amelia sitting next to me with a smile, “I love you.”

“I wuv you!” Amelia smiles, wrapping her arms around my neck and placing a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

“Thank you, Little Love,” I chime before grabbing the three boxes Sutton gave us.

“Mommy opens hers first,” Adena says as Amelia makes herself comfortable in my lap. I take the small box, unwrapping the paper and opening it to reveal a small, silver, heart-shaped locket with a ‘K’ engraved on it. I open the locket and see a picture of Aden and one of Amelia from Amelia’s recent birthday.

“Remind me to call Sutton,” I chime, showing Adena.

“That’s sweet of her to do that,” Adena smiles, taking the locket from my hand and putting it on.

“Pretty Mommy.”

“Thank you, Love. You and Mama get to go now.” Amelia smiles as she opens her gift, with help from me. Her gift is similar expect hers has an ‘A’ on it and pictures of Adena and me on the inside.

“Mommy and Mama!” she chimes, pointing at the pictures.

“Yes, it’s us. We all have the same, Mommy and I have you though, but I have Mommy and you,” Adena says with a smile, showing Amelia.

“Pretty.”

 

-Adena POV-

I close the door gently as I walk out of Amelia’s room and into mine. I find Kat sitting up in bed, reading through an issue of Scarlet, she looks up and smiles when she sees me enter the room, “did you have a good day?” I ask, climbing into the bed.

“I did, thank you for cleaning up the fort,” she smiles, one that was playful and reminded me of how much Amelia looks like her.

“You’re welcome,” I say, kissing her quickly before getting off of the bed and walking over to my dresser, I open the top drawer and take out the gift I have for Kat.

“You didn’t have to get me anything else.”

“No, this is from me, the other thing was really from Amelia, but this is my gift to you.” Kat takes the gift from my hands and unwraps it. She gives me a knowing smile, almost as if she was expecting this. “We met when you were twenty-five.”

“And you had a camera in my face every chance you could get,” she teases, opening the photo album and looking at looking at each page slowly, “are these all from the past five years?”

“Yes, I used the best ones for this, seeing as the past five years have been very eventful in your life, I wanted to put all the best moments together, starting with our wedding photo, seeing as that was the best day in the past five years, and then I started from the beginning of our relationship. When we went to the Hamptons for work at that time.”

“When Sutton took it upon herself to room us together.”

“Yes, but it was still a very good weekend.”

“We’ve had a lot of moments together.”

“We have.”

“I’m happy you always have a camera in my face,” Kat says, looking up with a smile as she leans in to kiss me, “I love you. Thank you for this.”

“You’re welcome,” I whisper against her lips, kissing her again. 


	20. Chapter 20

-Kat POV-

The blaring sound of my alarm jolts me awake, I take a deep breath through my nose before turning to shut the alarm off. I feel Adena stir beside me a bit before burying her face in my neck, I smile. It’s been a while since we’ve had a morning to ourselves, seeing as Amelia was usually up at the crack of dawn, and Adena being the kind woman that she is, would always go into the little girl’s room and get her before I had a chance to wake up. Today was different, it was the first of several days this week that Amelia slept in later than usual, much to the excitement and pleasure of Adena and myself. I look down at my wife to see her peeking up at me with one eye open.

“Good morning,” she says quietly into my neck, kissing me there.

“Good morning,” I whisper, kissing her forehead. I move down the bed slightly to be face to face with her. I watch as she begins to wake up more, opening both eyes and looking around before looking at me, a small smile playing on her lips.

“We haven’t had a morning to ourselves in a while.”

“No, we haven’t,” I say, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “I missed this.”

“So did I,” She smiles, pulling me in for a kiss. The faint sounds of Amelia talking to herself begin to fill the room through the speakers of the baby monitor.

“Does she always speak Farsi in the morning?”

“We usually speak it together, but lately whenever she plays, she has her toys speak it too,” Adena laughs.

“That’s cute actually, I’m happy she’s bilingual.”

“So am I,” Adena smiles, “I’m going to go make coffee.”

“Not yet,” I whine, pulling her into me.

“You have a meeting this morning,” Adena chuckles as I wrap my arms around her.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t give me five more minutes,” I whine as I begin kissing her neck.

“Kat,” She says in a warning tone before I start kissing a more sensitive part of her neck, causing her to let out a surprised laugh, “baby, don’t start something we can’t finish,” she warns as she begins to get flustered from me kissing down her neck and across her chest.

“You’re no fun,” I say, kissing her deeply, causing her to moan softly.

“Later, right now I’m pretty sure Amelia needs to be changed, and you need to get ready for work.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re no fun.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her and trying to get away with wanting to have sex again. She tries to fight me on it, but give up when my hand moves down her torso and into her pajama pants.

“You don’t play fair,” she whines as I begin to tease her. I laugh, looking down at her to see her fighting a smile.

“I love you,” I sing, laughing as she tries to fight giving in to me, and failing at it. I continue to work her up, watching as she closes her eyes, her head sinking back into her pillow as she lets out a quiet moan. I work her down from her high, smiling as she opens her eyes, narrowing them at me, “I have to get ready for work,” I say, kissing her deeply before moving off of her and making my way into the bathroom. Adena walks up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist as she looks at me in the mirror.

“I love you,” she whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek.

“Mama!” Amelia shouts.

“Back to reality,” I say, turning in her arms and kissing her quickly.

“Do you think your parents would like to have her for a weekend?”

“I know my mom would like to see her for an entire weekend, why?”

“I want to go out to the Hamptons, just you and I for the weekend.”

“This weekend?”

“Yes, I need a weekend with you, alone. It’s been so long.”

“Okay,” I nod, kissing her again.

“Mommy!”

“She’s getting antsy.”

“Go, I have to get ready anyway.”

“Okay,” Adena smiles, kissing me again before leaving the room. I begin to get ready, taking a quick shower before making my way into the bedroom to get dressed. I hear the sounds of small feet against the hardwood floor as I finish buttoning up my blouse.

“Mommy!”

“Yes, Bug?” I ask, walking out of the closet.

“You leaving?”

“Yes, I have to go to work.”

“Oh, you always work.”

“I know, but it helps buy you toys, and helps us have this nice house, that’s why I work.”

“I like things.”

“So do I, that’s why I always work,” I explain to the three-year-old, kissing her cheek, “do you want to have a weekend with grandma?”

“Yes! I love Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Well, I’ll see if Grandpa can come over, but I know Grandma will for sure.”

“Okay, where you going?”

“Mama and I have to go away for work this weekend,” I say, picking up the little girl and taking her downstairs.

“I want to go.”

“It’s work, Love. Only Mama and I can go.”

“Okay. Grandma coming over then?”

“Yes, Grandma will come stay with you.”

“Okay, I’m hungry.”

“What do you want, Love?” Adena asks as we walk into the kitchen.

“Eggs, and banana.”

“Okay,” Adena chimes, handing me a cup of coffee and taking Amelia from me.

“I have to get going,” I say, putting the cup down and walking over to get my bag, making sure I had everything I needed, “I love you both. I’m going to be home early today, want to maybe go uptown?”

“Can we go to see the dinosaurs?” Amelia asks from where she was sat at the table.

“We’ll see,” Adena chimes, sipping her cup of coffee.

“You heard Mama, we’ll see. I have to go, I’m going to be late.”

* * *

Are you really going to do this here?” Sutton asks, handing me the pregnancy test I asked her to buy.

“Yes, and you’re going to know the answer before my wife,” I say, walking into the bathroom stall.

“I feel honored,” Jane chimes, “can we speed the process up though?”

“No. It’s hard enough to pee with an audience, and then we still have to wait five minutes for the results to be accurate,” I explain.

“Come on, you’ve peed in an alley in Brooklyn when you were drunk, this is to find out if you’re bringing forth life,” Sutton chimes.

“I think it was you that peed in the alley,” Jane says.

“It was both of us,” I clarify. I finish the task at hand, opening the door and handing the test to Jane, who take it from me.

“Wait you just peed on this,” she shrieks, going over to get a paper towel to wrap the test in and putting it on the sink before vigorously washing her hands.

“Now we’re even for that yoni egg incident,” I chime washing my hands before pulling my phone out of my pocket to check the timer, “three more minutes.”

“Are you nervous?”

“We don’t have any resources to try again, so yes I am. I want to give Amelia a sibling, and a biological one to some extent and this is the only way, and I want to give Adena a child that is biological to her as well.”

“That’s a lot,” Jane says, placing her hand on my arm.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating.”

“Are you going to name this baby Sutton?” Sutton chime with a smile.

“Amelia’s middle name is Brady and that’s all you’re getting.”

“So this one gets to be Jane or Sloan.”

“If Adena agrees with it,” I say, taking a deep breath when my timer goes off.

“Are you ready?” Jane asks, picking up the paper towel wrapped test.

“Yeah,” I nod, taking the test from her, unwrapping it and closing my eyes for a moment. I take a deep breath and look at the test, not being able to hold back my emotions.

“What?” Sutton asks with an alarmed tone, looking down at the test with a shriek.

“You’re pregnant?” Jane asks, looking at the test before she and Jane wrap me in a hug, congratulations.”

“I have to call Adena.”

“Is she going to be annoyed you took a test here?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I say, shaking my head. I take my phone and walk out of the bathroom.

“Hey, Love,” Adena chimes when she answers the phone.

“Hey, Baby. Are you home?”

“Yeah, Amelia and I are finishing up with baking.”

“You’re baking?”

“She wanted cookies.”

“Well aren’t you adorable,” I chime, “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“I went to the doctor about a month ago now.”

“I know,” she says quietly, “is this about that?”

“Yes, it is. I, uhm, I asked Sutton to get a test and bring it to work, just in case something happened.”

“You were going to hide it from me?”

“We can argue about that later, there is nothing to hide. I would rather have dealt with it myself and gave myself time to understand everything before bringing it up to you.”

“Was it negative?” She asks quietly, I can hear the aggravation in her tone as well as nervousness.

“No,” I whisper, listening as she gasps slightly, “it was positive.”

“Really?” I hear her voice fill with emotion.

“Yes, we’re going to have a baby.”

“Although I am annoyed, no I’m pissed off at the fact that you did this at work. I can’t deny how happy I am. We’re going to have another baby,” she whispers, “how are we going to tell Amelia?”

“I want to go to the doctor, make sure everything is how it should be before we tell Amelia.”

“Okay. I love you. I may not agree with the way you went about this, but I do love you and I am very happy.”

“I love you too, I’m sorry I didn’t do this with you, but I didn’t want to keep giving you bad news.”

“I know. I’ll let you get back to work, do you want me to call and make an appointment?”

“No, I’ll do it. I’m going to call right now.”

“Okay, I love you, Kat.”

“I love you, Adena.”

* * *

I walk into the house, Amelia running over to me from the living room, “Hi Mommy.”

“Hello love, how are you today?”

“Good! I used the potty today, no accidents!”

“Whoa, that’s awesome, high five,” I say, crouching down to her level, she slaps her hand to mine and smiles.

“Mama gave me a treat.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, and I got a surprise from Nana, she send candy and a dolly, and clothes.”

“That’s nice, did you see Nana today?”

“Yeah, we opened the box with her.”

“Awesome, where is Mama?”

“At her computer.”

“Thank you, Love,” I smile, kissing her cheek and following her into the living room. I walk over to Adena who looks up at me with a smile.

“Hey,” she says gently as I sit on her lap, we kiss and I feel her place her hand on my stomach, “are you happy?” she whispers in my ear.

“Yes,” I smile, kissing her forehead, “I hope they look like you.”

“Do we still want a little girl again?”

“At this point, it doesn’t matter, so long as they are healthy. That’s all I truly want.”

“So do I,” Adena says, leaning up to kiss me.

 

-Adena POV-

“Are we still going out on Long Island for the weekend?” I ask as we walk out of the doctor's office. Kat was examined and told that everything was on track so far for the early stages of her pregnancy and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

“I would like to, one last weekend alone before we have our next bundle.”

“I agree, did you talk to your mother?”

“She is excited to come by for the weekend, and my dad is coming too.”

“Great. Are we going to tell Amelia now, or wait until we get home?”

“Well, if we tell her now she’s going to tell my parents.”

“True. Do you think she’s going to be excited?”

“I don’t see why not. By the time this one is born, she’s going to be nearly four years old,” Kat says, looking down at her phone.

“Do you think there is anything to read up on?”

“Adena, I love you, but I think you should tone back a bit. Everything will be okay, she’s going to be happy to have a sibling and there is nothing to worry about. We’ve waited so long to have this moment and I just want to live in it. I was this pregnancy to go by smoothly and have a healthy, chubby baby when it’s over,” Kat says, stopping in front of me and kissing me quickly.

“You’re right,” I nod, taking her hand in mine, “I love you.”

“I love you too, you know what I want to tell Amelia today, we can show her the sonogram.”

“How will we get past her telling your parents.”

“They know we’ve been trying again, we can say she overheard something she shouldn’t have. That should hold us for a little while.”

“Perfect, let’s lie to psychiatrists who are probably constantly psychoanalyzing us.”

“Let me worry about that, okay?” Kat smiles, “everything will be okay. Now, while we’re uptown, I want to go to that Italian restaurant by the park for lunch.”

“Of course, Love,” I smile, wrapping my arm around her waist as she wraps hers around my shoulder.

 

-Kat POV-

“Mommy, Mama. You were gone forever!” Amelia says as we walk into the living room to see her sitting on the couch between Jane and Sutton.

“We’re sorry, Love. Mommy and I had things to do after the doctor, were you a good girl for Jane and Sutton?” Adena asks as she takes off her hijab.

“Yes, Mama,” Amelia answers in Farsi.

“Good,” Adena responds back, kneeling down to kiss the little girl’s cheek. Jane and Sutton leave soon after Adena and I get home. We exchange goodbyes and make plans to get together in the upcoming weeks, “Amelia, Love,” Adena says, from the couch as I sit beside her. The little girl looks over at us as Adena opens her arms, silently telling the girl to come over to us. Amelia smiles, putting her doll in its bed in the dollhouse before rushing over and climbing onto Adena’s lap.

“We have news to share with you, but it’s a secret, okay? You can’t tell anyone.”

“Not even Grandma and Grandpa?”

“No, we will tell them when we feel like it’s time to, okay? But right now we just want to share this with you,” I explain, placing my hand on her cheek.

“Okay.”

“Well, you know how Mommy and I went to the doctor today?”

“Yes, are you sick?”

“No, Munchkin, I’m not sick. But we have special news,” I say, reaching over to the coffee table, picking up the sonogram picture, “I know this isn’t a great picture.”

“Mama didn’t take it, that’s why,” the three-year-old counters, causing Adena and me to crack up laughing.

“She is right,” Adena says, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

“Of course she is. No, Mama did not take the picture but the doctor did,” I say, turning the image so Amelia could get a better look.

“See that fuzzy kind of blob there?” Adena says, pointing to the image.

“It looks like a bean,” Amelia says, cocking her head to the side and squinting a bit.

“It does look like a bean,” Adena chimes.

“That bean is in my tummy, it’s a baby,” I say quietly, watching as she looks between the image, Adena, and me.

“Do you have any questions, Amelia?” Adena asks gently.

“How did it get in there?”

“The doctors helped us.”

“Is it gonna get bigger?”

“Yes, my belly is going to get bigger. Like the pictures we’ve shown you of when you were in my belly.”

“Is it a sister or brother?”

“That we aren’t going to know for a while,” Adena says, “are you happy?”

“Yeah, it’s cool.”

“You don’t have any more questions?” I ask, putting the picture back on the coffee table.

“Do I have to share my room?”

“No, you don’t,” Adena smiles.

“Okay,” she chimes, wiggling out of Adena’s grip.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“I’m bored, I wanna go play,” she says, going back to her dollhouse.

“Our news bored her,” Adena says, looking at me before laughing.

“I’m bringing new life into the world much to the un-enthusiasticness of their older sister. Sounds about right, we should have kept her any only child, at least we would have been able to relate more if we raised her that way.”

“I didn’t like not having a sibling, it would get lonely.”

“I know, I feel that same way,” I chime, “at least you were enthused by the news.”

“And everyone else will be too, she just needs to see the baby to understand.”

“You’re right, we should start looking for a new bedroom set for her, get her a big girl bed and stuff like that, that way we can move all the baby stuff out of her room and into the nursery.”

“Maybe that will help her get involved a bit more.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I say, getting up from the couch, “I love you,” I say, leaning down to kiss her.

“I love you, too.”


	21. Chapter 21

-Adena POV-

I follow Kat down our private stretch of beach, taking photos of her much to her frustration. I couldn’t help but take more photos of her, some she was seen smiling, others were just of her profile or candid shots of me taking her with the sunset as her background, “Baby, can you take a minute and enjoy being with me?”

“I always enjoy being with you, but a lot of these I want to use for a series.”

“I know you only married me for my good looks to make money,” Kat teases, pulling me by the waist and leaning in to kiss me.

“Your good looks were a plus, you know that,” I tease, leaning in to kiss her again.

“So were yours, don’t think you’re so special.”

“I love you,” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.

“Can we take a dopey selfie on my camera?”

“Of course,” I smile. Kat takes her phone from her back pocket, holding it out in front of us. I stood behind her slightly, and she turns to kiss me on the cheek, taking the picture, “you’re a dork.”

“You love me.”

“Yes, I do,” I kiss her again before taking her hand in mine as we walk back to the house.

“What do you want to do for the rest of the night?” Kat chimes as we walk through the back door into the kitchen area. I watch her carefully as she looks at me over her shoulder with a smirk as she turns and begins walking backward, sitting up on the kitchen island, and leaning back on her hands as she swings her legs a bit.

“Are you implying something?” I tease, taking off my hijab.

“Maybe,” she shrugs. I begin to walk towards her, a small smile plays on her lips and her eyes begin to shine in a mischievous manner as I got closer to her. I watched as her body reacted to my proximity, she sat up a little straighter and her breath caught slightly. I maintain eye contact with her as I walk past her, holding back my laugh. “You did that on purpose,” she whines.

“You sound like Amelia when you whine like that,” I say, opening the fridge to find something to snack on. I hear her get down from the counter, walking behind me and slapping my ass with force, causing me to jump. I turn around to see her smiling as she starts to slowly walk towards the bedroom, her walk turns into a run as I chase her down the hallway. She shrieks as I reach out and pull her into me before forcing her against the wall, kissing her passionately.

“There she is,” Kat chimes as I begin kissing her neck.

“What does that mean?”

“No, stay in this moment.”

“You know I’m going to have a hard time,” I say, moaning as she kisses me deeply, pushing me towards the bedroom.

 

-Kat POV-

I lie back against the soft white pillows, catching my breath as Adena kisses her way back up my body, “good?”

“Always,” I smile, pulling her in for a kiss, moaning as I taste myself on her lips.

“Is there something you don’t tell me?”

“I knew you were going to bring that up,” I groaned, hiding my face in the pillow.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” She asks, leaning on her elbow and resting her head in her hand.

“Are you aware that you have two different sexual personas?”

“Is this a statistical story you read at work or are you personally theorizing?”

“This is my personal observation of you, from when we were girlfriends all the way to us being wives,” I say, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“We’ve been together for six years and this is only coming up now?”

“It was an article Jane was writing a couple of weeks ago, alter egos when it comes to sex, something like that, and it only got me thinking now.”

“I’m a different person when we have sex?”

“Several, depending on your mood,” I say, sitting up a bit, “when you want to make love, you’re gentle and kind. Very much like yourself, soft and caring. But when you want to fuck, you turn into something completely different. The exact opposite of what you are when you’re ‘love making’ Adena.”

“Do you have a name for my alter ego?” She asks, looking at me with narrow eyes and tilting her head to the side, a playful smile on her face.

“When you’re aggressive and want to fuck, she’s Angelina.”

“Why Angelina?” Adena asks with a laugh.

“Did you ever see that movie with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, they’re married, and the one scene they’re literally trying to kill each other, and they fuck after? Yeah, I don’t know why, but the aggressive passion she has is how you get.”

“I see,” she says with a husky tone as she leans in to kiss me, “and when I’m gentle?”

“You’re still you. Only Angelina gets the special name, and she hasn’t been out to play in a while.”

“I think Angelina should be provoked more often, don’t you?”

“I think she is pushed deep down since we have a kid, and another on the way.”

“True, maybe she will come out again before the weekend is up.”

“Whatever it takes,” I chime, moving to straddle her waist. Adena mumbles something in Farsi before pulling me down with slight force to kiss her, “don’t force her to come out, just let her come out on her own,” I whisper against her lips.

“Trust me, it isn’t forced, Love.”

“Did I inflate your sexual ego?”

“Maybe,” she chimes, moving and pushing me on to my back.

“I love you.”

“Be quiet,” she whispers in my ear.

“Ooh, she’s dominant?”

“She can be if you want to try something new.”

“Yes, please.”

* * *

Before we knew it we were on our way back into Manhattan. It was late Sunday night while Adena held my hand in the back of a cab on the way to our house from Penn Station. She whispers sweet nothings in English, French, and Farsi, causing me to giggle and bite my lip, much to her amusement. We pull up in front of the house, Adena pays the driver while I get out bags from the trunk. We walk through the door to see the house was fairly dark, except for the light coming into the hallway from the living room, I walk in to see my parents watching TV. “Hello, Sweetie,” my mom chimes, pushing her glasses on top of her head, “how was your weekend?”

“Amazing, it was nice to have a weekend alone,” I say, wrapping my arm around Adena when she walks up beside me.

“Thank you both again for watching Amelia, how was she?” Adena chimes.

“She was wonderful, as always,” my dad says, getting up from where he was sat on the couch, “I know I say this every time, but you girls are doing an amazing job of raising her.”

“Thank you, Marcus.”

“You’re welcome. Is she completely fluent in your language?”

“We’re getting there, some words and phrases are a little hard for her to pronounce properly, seeing as she mainly speaks English, but the what she can say is basic for every day, terms of endearment, things like that.”

“Well, I think it is amazing that she can be so fluent in what she does know, and understands it when it is spoken back to her.”

“They talk in Farsi all the time, sometimes I get frustrated because it takes me a moment to register what they are talking about, by the time I translate it they’re already laughing about something new,” I say, causing Adena to laugh.

“It’s true. It’s nice sharing my culture with my family in more ways than one.”

“It helps make for a very well-rounded one,” my mom chimes, as she and my father get ready to go, “she’s slept well last night, Friday was a little rough, but not too bad. Hopefully, she sleeps well tonight.”

“She should be okay, thank you again, Mom and Dad.”

“Any time, Sweetheart,” my dad says, pulling me in for a hug, “when are we getting another one out of you girls?” He asks in a half-joking tone.

“We’re trying out best, Marcus, it’s been hard,” Adena says, bringing the joking tone down a bit.

“Is everything okay?” My mother asks with a furrowed brow.

“It’s just been a little rough, we’ve been trying and it hasn’t been successful, we have one more chance before we have to turn to adoption.”

“Well, I hope everything turns out well, you girls deserve it. Adena deserves a child that is genetically hers as well.”

“I would love a child no matter what the blood relation, just being able to watch them grow up and learn, that is something I enjoy about working at my own pace with Amelia, I’ve been able to experience so much through her eyes, it’s touching,” Adena explains, placing her hand on her chest.

“Regardless of how you two acquire another child, you are still going to be amazing mothers,” my mom says. With that, they say their goodbyes and leave.

“When are we going to tell them?”

“End of the first trimester, just like we did with Amelia,” I say, turning off the TV and the lights in the living room before making my way upstairs. We both peek in to see Amelia fast asleep.

“She looks like you,” Adena whispers in my ear, “she is nearly drooling like you do,” she teases, letting out a laugh as I poke at her side.

“I don’t drool.”

“Want the evidence?”

“You have photographic evidence?” I chime, following her into our bedroom.

“Baby, I have photos of a lot of things, you sleeping is one, and there is one here that has the proof,” she says as she slips one of her memory cards into a camera, “see?”

“I can’t stand you,” I say, shoving her playfully when she shows me a photo of me asleep, the image exactly that of how we saw Amelia.

“You love me,” she says, kissing me quickly.

“I guess so,” I shrug, laughing as she shoves me playfully. We get ready for bed, Adena walks back into the bedroom from the bathroom and climbs into bed beside me, resting her head on my abdomen. I smile, running my fingers through her hair as she speaks in Farsi, I am able to understand some of the lullaby she begins singing, only because she taught me how to sing it when Amelia was born.

“I hope it’s another girl,” she says as she sits up.

“Really?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I think I want a boy. We already have our princess, maybe we should have a little prince.”

“Kaeden?”

“Kaeden Armand El-Amin-Edison.”

“Our children have such long names.”

“I know, but they can always drop Edison if they want to.”

“You kept it,” Adena says, cocking her head to the side a bit.

“I know, I kept it because of my career. I’ve been thinking of changing it, and just keeping my career as ‘Edison’.”

“What about your parents, wouldn’t they want you to keep your last name?”

“I don’t have any sentimental connection to it if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Well we can bring this discussion up again a different day, personally I think we should just keep things the way they are,” Adena says, making herself comfortable for bed.

“Well hopefully we have little Kaeden,” I chime, turning on my side so we are facing each other.

“Time will tell, my love,” Adena whispers, kissing me softly before settling back and falling asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

-Kat POV-

“Mommy your tummy is big,” Amelia chimes when she runs into the bedroom, climbing onto the bed. I was only just beginning to show and it didn’t go unnoticed by the toddler, she pointed out different things every morning, my swollen belly, my pale face if I was coming out of the bathroom from being sick, how I was slightly more irritable than usual in the morning. All of the things I never wanted to be noticed, never wanted to subject Adena to, the little girl pointed out all the time.

“That’s because of the baby,” I say with an even tone.

“It’s growing in there?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl yet?”

“Not yet, Little Love,” I say, going over and kissing the top of her curly head.

“Okay,”

“Is Mama praying?”

“Yeah, she said it was a special prayer today, I wasn’t staying quiet enough for her.”

“You know she needs you to be respectful when she’s praying.”

“How come you never pray?” Amelia asks, cocking her head to the side.

“I was raised differently than Mama, I pray in a different way.”

“How do you pray?” She asks innocently, yet wanting to know the true answer. I go through the motions of what it’s like to pray for a Christian. Telling her the different prayers and how they are to be said, she looks at me curiously, “why is praying quiet?”

“Because sometimes people like to keep their prayers to themselves, it doesn’t always have to be shared with everyone around them, but God is still able to hear you.”

“Why does Mama pray on a mat, and you can pray just sitting?”

“Mama’s religion is a little different, she prays towards the sun, I can pray however I want.”

“Those are the rules?”

“Yes, we all have different rules and believe different things,” I said caressing her cheek.

“Hello, Love.” Adena sings as she walks over to kiss me, “everything okay?”

“Mommy can pray wherever she wants, she doesn’t have to pray to the sun,” the little girl says, proud of the new information she received today.

“We had a lesson in religion this morning?” Adena asks.

“A crash course, she was curious, I gave her a few answers,” I shrug.

“I see,” Adena nods.

“How come I only knew about Mama?”

“We decided when you were younger we were going to raise you with my faith, but if you want to learn about Mommy’s that’s okay.”

“Okay. I’m hungry,” the little girl chimes, getting off of the bed and making her way downstairs.

“We’ll talk about this later?” Adena asks.

“Of course,” I say, leaning in to kiss her, “I have to get to work.”

* * *

I crawl into bed next to Adena, she kisses the side of my head as I rest it on her shoulder. “How was your day?”

“Long, but I’m up to get a pay raise soon, I got paperwork today. That was good.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Adena smiles, taking my hand in hers and raising it to her lips, kissing the back of it before moving slightly down the bed so she and I are lying face to face, “do you want to talk about what happened this morning?”

“We are raising her how we said, or we aren’t raising her religious, we can raise her with spirituality, but not with a concrete religion. I don’t what her being brainwashed by a religion that is hypocritical.”

“Then we won’t raise her with religion, there is hypocrisy across all religions. But that won’t stop me from practicing.”

“I’m not telling you to stop practicing your faith, you’ve known my stance on this topic since we were dating, Amelia asked a question and I gave her an answer.”

“Why are you getting frustrated, Love?” She asks, running her fingers through my hair.

“I don’t like these discussions, how to raise our kid, second guessing if it’s a good choice for them. Wondering if it’s going to affect her poorly later on…”

“Sweetheart, as long as she is happy and well educated in all factions of life, she is going to be a very well-rounded woman when she grows up. The same goes for our unborn child. We are going to expose our children to everything, and let them know what there is in the world. They have two mothers who are both very diverse in a lot of ways, therefore they are going to be diverse in a lot of ways.”

“You’re right,” I say, causing Adena to smile, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she leans in to kiss me gently. “I don't want you to worry about anything,” she whispers, running her fingers through my hair, “especially if you think it’s going to upset me. As Amelia grows up, and our family expands, we are going to have to make a lot of choices that we may not agree with, but we have to know what is best for Amelia and the baby. Sometimes we are going to have to put our opinions and differences aside in order to do what is best.”

“I’m happy I chose to marry you. I don’t know how I would be if I married someone else.”

“Well I was kind of your only choice,” Adena chuckles.

“You know what I mean. If I didn’t meet you, or if we didn’t end up married. If I didn’t follow my heart.”

“I’m happy you did, I don’t know if you know it enough, but you changed my life in a lot of ways.”

“You changed mine in a lot as well.”

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you,” she says with a smirk, leaning in and kissing me gently.

* * *

“It doesn’t sound like anything,” Amelia chimes as she rests her head on my baby bump.

“I told think it would, Little Love.”

“Mama says the baby is in a water bed.”

“Something like that, yes.”

“What is it?”

“It’s more like a water balloon.”

“You grow babies in water balloons?”

“Something like that,” I laugh, running my fingers through her hair.

“Was that how I grew?”

“Yes, in my tummy.”

“Why can’t Mama grow a baby?”

“Mama was told by the doctor that if she did, she could get very sick,” I explain, watching Amelia become visibly upset.

“I don’t want Mama to get sick,” she cries.

“Mama isn’t going to get sick, Sweetie. Don’t get upset,” I say, holding her in my arms.

“Mama’s gonna be alive forever?”

“I don’t know about forever, but for a very long time she will be.”

“Almost forever?”

“Yes,” I nod, “almost forever.”

“I love, Mama, and you Mommy.”

“We love you too, Little Love,” I say, kissing the top of her head, “we love you very much.”

“When is Mama coming home?”

“Whenever she is done. She had to go to work and do some shopping. Mama deserves to get out every once in a while.”

“I love Mama. I want to be with her all the time.”

“I want to be with her all the time, too,” I smile, kissing Amelia on the forehead. I was in the kitchen making Amelia something for lunch when I get a phone call from Jane, “Hey, Tiny Jane.”

“Kat, I’m on my way over to watch Amelia, Adena is at the hospital. Ben just called me.”

“Why didn’t he call me?”

“He figured you would answer for me right away instead of a number you weren’t sure of.”

“Is she okay?”

“From what he told me she was beaten up pretty bad. I’m on your street now, I’ll be in soon.” With that being said she hung up. I sigh, my thoughts going a million miles an hour as I process everything that I was just told. I compose myself, fighting back tears as I walk into the living room, placing Amelia’s lunch on the coffee table.

“Baby, I have to run out quick, Auntie Jane is coming to watch you.”

“Where you going?”

“Mama got hurt, I have to go see if she’s okay.”

“I want to go!”

“You can’t go, I have to go first,” I say, watching as the toddler begins to cry.

“But I love Mama too!”

“I know you do, Baby, I know. Right now, I have to go make sure Mama is okay,” I say as Jane walks into the house, using the key I gave her.

“I don’t want Auntie Jane!”

“Sweetheart, Mommy has to go. Want to see the cool stuff I brought you? We can do our nails,” Jane chimes, walking in and crouching down in front of Amelia who was crying. Amelia wipes the tears from her cheeks as she listens to Jane’s proposition.

“Can I paint my nails blue?”

“I have, red, purple, pink, and blue,” Jane says, taking the nail polishes out of her bag. I sneak out, seeing as Jane has thoroughly distracted Amelia. I text Jane making sure she knows that Amelia still has to eat her lunch, and I will keep her updated. I wave down a cab and let the driver know it was an emergency if he could get me to the hospital as fast as possible. I get to the hospital, finding bed fairly quickly.

“What’s going on?” I ask him, bypassing the nurses that were trying to question me.

“She is a victim of a hate crime, the police are in there talking to her.”

“Is she okay?”

“She has a black eye, two of her ribs are broken. She needed stitches over her eyebrow, about ten. From what I can tell, she fought them off as best as she could. It could have been worse.”

“Adena is a fighter,” I chuckle, “who called the police?”

“Apparently they were doing a patrol and saw what happened, they took the two kids that abused her into custody.”

“Where is she?”

“Down that hall, first door on the left.”

“Thank you,” I say walking to the room he said. I walk in to see Adena sitting up in the bed, her left eye was bruised and a bandage over her eyebrow where she needed stitches. Two policemen stood at the foot of the bed, one looks over at me.

“Sorry, ma’am you can’t be in here.”

“She’s my wife and she will stay here,” Adena says firmly, looking over at me with tears in her eyes.

“May I ask what happened?”

“Your wife was involved in an altercation with a couple of teenage boys. She is the victim,” the one officer says.

“Are you pressing charges?”

“That is what we are discussing,” Adena says, “I would like some time to think about that. Now that my wife is here, can I be left alone for a little while? I was just attacked and now I’m being interrogated about what I would like to happen to the attackers.”

“We can give you fifteen minutes, I’m going to write up the report,” the female officer says, walking out of the room, her partner close behind.

“Oh, Kat,” Adena whines, I rush over to her side, being mindful of the fact that she could be hurt.

“What happened?”

“I was walking out of the studio, I was on the phone with my mother, speaking Persian of course, and these two punk kids started shouting at me and proceeded to beat me. I fought them off for a little before the cops came, thankfully they weren’t far or this could have been worse.”

“Are you pressing charges?”

“They’re kids.”

“They could have hurt you far worse than this.”

“I don’t know, I would like to see their parents, but I know that’s where they learned their hatred. If I press charges, it could ruin their lives. I want to talk to them though.”

“Do you want me to tell the cops?”

“Yeah, I want it arranged if it can be,” I do what is asked, as the woman follows me into the room.

“Ms. El-Amin, I don’t know if that’s a good idea, they are minors, you may need parental consent.”

“Then I would like to speak to parents and the children.” Somehow it gets arranged, and the two boys that abused Adena are currently handcuffed, seeing as they were technically still in police custody, and standing at the foot of the bed, each boy has their mother standing beside them. Adena sits up as best as she could, looking disapprovingly at the boys who were looking at their feet. “Gentleman, I would like for you to look at me,” Adena chimes. One of the mothers elbows her son to cooperate, clearly annoyed and upset with her child’s actions. “I don’t know what it was the possessed you to attack me, but if you could explain it, I would like that.”

“Your people are terrorists,” the one lankier boy says, continuing to look down at his feet.

“This is why I don’t let you see your father for extended periods of time,” his mother sighs.

“My people are marginalized into a group based on people who are extremists. If that was the case, just because I could assume you are Christian, I should marginalize you for everything negative that takes place amongst the Christian community and all the hate they spew into the world.”

“Christians don’t kill people,” the heavier boy says, looking at Adena with venom in his eyes.

“Should we discuss the several mass shootings that have taken place here in America since nine eleven and how almost none of them were committed by Muslims? Or how those people were American citizens that committed those crimes? You are going to take an amount of knowledge that is drenched in ignorance and attack the first Muslim you see because I am someone you are brainwashed into believing is a threat? And yet as a Muslim, I am going to see the better in you boys and not choose the path of ruining your lives by pressing charges. You are both lucky that I don’t like the ideologies of the western world cloud m mind in what I know is right and wrong. You are children who made a stupid choice, and hopefully, you will not make a stupid choice like this one again. If I should happen to see your faces in the news in the future because the next Muslim you attack does press charges, then I just hope that you know they weren’t as generous as I am. You both could have done a lot of damage, I wouldn’t have been able to go home to my wife, and our child. You could have ruined a family based on your ignorance,” Adena says, taking my hand in hers.

“You’re gay too?” The heavier one says, “now I really wish I would have beat you more,” he scoffs, his mother slapping the back of his head.

“What has gotten into you, Brett?” She reprimands him.

“Just for threatening me I could press charges, you are dancing a fine line,” Adena shakes her head, looking between the two boys.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the lanky boy says, looking up at Adena and me, “I’m sorry I went along with Brett, honestly. I know I have to open my mind a bit more, don’t judge people just based on something I was told was bad. I want to change that about myself, give people a chance.”

“You should, there is no reason to be hateful towards people. No matter what a small group of them do, or have done in the past. Hatred is something that shouldn’t be tolerated, and by being hateful you are no better than the long lists of horrible people throughout the history of the world. We are all taught the same thing, we are given the same rules to go on, we just believe in a different name. Your Bible is no different than my Quron, or a Jewish person’s Torah. We call them different things, but they all have the same guiding principles on how we as servants of Allah, should live and treat people.”

“I apologize,” he says, with a sincere look on his face, Adena smiles.

“You are forgiven, as for you Brett,” Adena says, looking over at the boy.

“I will not apologize for my actions.”

“Then you are no better than the terrorists you decided to group me with. They weren’t accountable for their actions based on the hate they felt towards your country, so you not wanting to be accountable for yours based on the fact that I am Muslim is something you have to think about.”

“Whatever,” he scoffs.

“You will apologize to this woman and her wife. I did not raise you to be hateful, you get that from your father as well, and that’s why he isn’t around. Negativity is something I will not tolerate,” Brett stands there with his hands behind his back, not saying a single word. “Seeing as my son is an ignorant fool, I apologize on behalf of the fact that he is being brainwashed by his father and our President. His actions are by no means reflected upon me or how I raised him, ever since this buffoon got into office he has been acting out in ways I never thought he would.”

“Do you like upsetting your mother?” I ask, watching as the boy's demeanor changed a bit, “I just want to point out that if my wife was hurt beyond the point that she is, and I was making these decisions for her, you would be on your way to jail right now awaiting prosecution, Brett. And that would be with no hesitation. If she were to not come home today due to your ignorance, I would make sure you wouldn’t see daylight for a very long time. But, that isn’t the case, I just hope that one day your white privilege isn’t going to save you, seeing as times are changing. Trans people are winning positions in government, women are winning positions in government, before you know it, the white male may be a minority, and there is nothing you can do about it because of the fact that America was built on diversity, once America became its own country it was built on the idea of making it a better place for everyone, but then the white man had to twist different aspects and tweak things to make it better for them. Don’t be one of those people, be a person that sees the greater good in everything, don’t look at someone and instantly hate them because Fox News told you they were bad. Give new people a chance and take the time to learn about them before you hate them.” With that being said Adena waved them off, hoping to never see them again, leaving them with the mercy of their mothers, “when do you get to come home?” I ask, resting my forehead against the side of her head.

“Hopefully tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to bring you anything?”

“No, it’s okay. Go home to be with Amelia.”

“I’m not leaving you, Mom can go watch her, if not Jane can stay with her.”

  
“Kat, go. I’ll be okay.”

“No, I don’t want to go,” I say, looking at her with tears in my eyes, “I could have lost you today, and I’m not leaving.”

“I’m sorry,” Adena whispers, holding me as best as she can as I cry into her neck.


	23. Chapter 23

-Adena POV-

Kat helps me into the house, seeing as I was still sore after what happened. Once we’re inside, I hear the familiar thumping of Amelia’s feet as she runs across the hardwood floor, “Mama!” she shouts. Rushing over to me with open arms.

“Be careful, Love. I don’t feel well,” I say, watching as she slows down and comes in to hug me gently.

“Mama got a boo-boo?”

“Yes, Love. I got hurt.”

“Someone hurt you?” Amelia coos, reaching up to touch my cheek gently.

“People who weren’t very well informed.”

“No one is allowed to hurt Mama.”

“Things happen, Baby,” I say, wrapping her in a hug and kissing her cheek.

“I love you, Mama, I won’t hurt you.”

“Thank you, Love.”

“Mama has to go take a shower, you still hang out with grandma and I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“You help Mama?”

“Yes, I have to help Mama,” Kat chimes.

“I want to help.”

“You can help me bring Mama something to eat after I help her shower.”

“Okay,” Amelia chimes before walking back into the living room where Susan was.

“Are you okay?” Susan asks, walking over and placing her hand on my shoulder.

“It could have been a lot worse.”

“It’s still pretty bad,” Kat scoffs.

“You girls go get settled, I’ll order in and let you know when dinner gets here. Come on Amelia, we’re gonna let your moms get settled.”

“Okay, Grandma,” Amelia chimes, following Susan into the kitchen.

“Are you ready to go upstairs?”

“Yeah, I want to shower and go to bed.”

“Okay, Love,” Kat whispers, leaning in to kiss me before helping me up the stairs. She helps me into the shower, and into my pajamas, “do you want to try to go back downstairs?”

“Yeah, I feel better after showering, I’ll go and rest on the couch,” I smile. Kat walks over to me, holding me gently, “what?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her and placing my hand on her stomach, “how’s this Little Love?”

“Little guy is good.”

“Little guy?”

“I think so, I think Kaeden is in there.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet our son,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her softly, “he’s going to be the cutest feminist ever.”

“That he will be,” she laughs, “he’s going to be as beautiful as you.”

“With a heart like yours, I hope,” I say, watching Kat shake her head.

“He’s going to have your heart, Adena. You’ve always been more open than me, more loving that I am.”

“You learned to allow the love to come in and not be afraid of it, he will do the same.”

“We’ll see what happens,” Kat whispers, leaning in and kissing me.

“Mommy!” Amelia calls up the stairs.

“We should go.”

“Go ahead, I’ll make it down there.”

“No, I’m helping you.”

“Okay,” I smile, kissing her quickly.

 

-Kat POV-

I walk into the kitchen to see my mother fixing herself a drink, “do you want one?”

“No thanks, I can’t have one.”

“Oh right, I’m sorry. With everything that happened I forgot you were pregnant.”

“If I wasn’t pregnant, I would forget too.”

“Is Adena okay?”

“She’s watching a movie with Amelia.”

“I’m sorry that something like this happened to her.”

“So am I, but it’s something that won’t always be in our control.”

“I know. She needs a life too, she can’t hide just because something happened to her.”

“And she won’t, Adena is a fighter, she won’t let some ass holes get in the way of her living her life.”

“I’m very happy you are with such a wonderful woman in so many ways. I never thought I would see you with someone who was so good for you in so many aspects. I never thought you were going to be with someone at all if I’m being honest.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I scoff.

“I wouldn’t have thought you would be a mother by thirty, your father and I always found you very hard to read. It wasn’t because you’re our daughter, you are just so good at hiding your emotions, you still are.”

“Adena has said that to me, I use different things to hide how I really feel.”

“You do, but it isn’t a bad thing, we all do it.”

“Are you analyzing me?”

“I’ve never analyzed you, Love. I take my education and look further into something if I think it’s something that’s concerning, but you were never concerning.”

“Did you ever want to have another baby?”

“Your father and I wanted to have careers, and a family, as selfish as that sounds. But we knew the only way we could each have both, we could only focus on one child. But then came a time where I wanted to try for another, and your father agreed. You were around two or three. We tried and I ended up having a miscarriage. We waited some time and it happened again, by the third time we decided it wasn’t worth risking it again.”

“You miscarried?”

“Yes,” she says quietly.

“I did, twice before getting pregnant this time,” I say, watching as he face falls as she walks over to hold me.

“I’m sorry, Kathryn, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, kissing the top of my head, “why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a lot to take, I thought something was wrong with me, I - I didn’t want to try again after the first time it happened.”

“What would you have done if this time didn’t work?”

“Adopt, we both want for Amelia to have a sibling and it didn’t matter how we were giving her one, she was just getting one no matter what.”

“I know I’ve told you this, but you are a great mother.”

“Thank you,” I smile, “I know you say it all the time, but I never mind hearing it.”

“Mommy, Mommy,” Amelia chimes, rushing into the kitchen.

“Yes, Little Love?” I chime, pulling her into my lap.

“Mama fell asleep.”

“Let her sleep, she doesn’t feel good.”

“Bad people hurt her.”

“Yes, people that don’t understand.”

“Mean people.”

“Yes, Baby. Mean people,” I say, kissing the side of her head, “but we’re not going to worry. We’re going to let Mama get better.”

“Okay, I want to make her a picture.”

“You can make her a picture, Mom, can you grab her crayons and paper. It’s in the cabinet next to the fridge.”

“Mama put it up there so I can’t reach it.”

“And why did Mama do that?” My mother asks.

“Cause I colored the wall,” Amelia chimes with an innocent smile.

“You colored on the wall?”

“Yeah. No paper and Mama was working!”

“And now Adena doesn’t edit until Amelia is sleeping,” I say, brushing back Amelia’s curls as she starts drawing a picture.

“I ordered pizza for dinner if you guys don’t care.”

“I don’t, Adena may not even eat.”

“Okay,” my mom nods. The rest of the evening was pleasant, seeing as it was spent with just Amelia and my mother while Adena slept on the couch. After my mother left, I got Amelia ready for bed before making my way back downstairs to see Adena was just starting to wake up again.

“Hey,” she says gently as I walk over to her.

“How do you feel?” I ask, sitting on the coffee table and reaching over to caress her cheek.

“Sore, what time is it?”

“After eight, you’ve been sleeping for like three hours.”

“I don’t know what it’s like to nap,” she chuckles, sitting up gently.

“Do you want anything?”

“A cup of tea would be amazing.”

“Of course, Love,” I smile, kissing her forehead and going to make her a cup of tea.

“Thanks, Baby,” she chimes when I walk back in with her tea.

“Anything for you,” I smile, sitting down beside her.

“How was Amelia?”

“Good, you know her, she isn’t anything to worry about, she did draw you a picture though she wants to give it to you herself,” I say, brushing the hair out of her face.

“What?”

“I love you, I don’t know what I would have done if something else happened to you.”

“Baby, I’m okay,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me, “I would never let anyone get the best of me.”

“I know, but still.”

“I’m here, and nothing will happen to me. I promise you.”

“Okay,” I whisper, resting my head on her shoulder.

“I think I may stop wearing my hijab though,” she whispers.

“Isn’t that just letting them win?”

“We don’t know what we are up against, five years ago it would have been a different story, now I’m putting up the fact that I have a family I need to come home to. I don’t want to risk running into people who may hurt me again and not have me come home to you, Amelia, and Kaeden when the time comes. It’s the only way I can prevent something from happening again.”

“If you want to make that choice, then so be it. I will support you.”

“Thank you,” she says with a tight-lipped smile.

“I just don’t want you to lose your sense of identity.”

“I won’t, I’m always going to be a proud Muslim lesbian. No one and nothing will change that.”

“Okay,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	24. Chapter 24

-Kat POV-

“Ms. Edison, someone is at the desk for you,” the new receptionist chimes. I get up from my desk and walk over to reception to see Adena standing there with a smile and Amelia on her hip.

“Hi, Mommy!”

“Hey, Baby,” I say, wrapping her in a hug after she wiggled out of Adena’s hold and ran over to me. I pick her up, kissing her cheek before kissing Adena, “what brings you here?”

“We were in the neighborhood, Amelia wanted to see you,” Adena smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s so weird seeing you without your hijab,” I whisper, playing with the end of her hair.

“You see me without it all the time at home.”

“That’s at home.”

“I know,” Adena says quietly, with a sad smile, “my choice, it’s going to be something to get used to.”

“Yeah,” I smile, kissing her softly.

“Where Auntie Sutton?”

“Come on, I’ll bring you by Auntie Sutton,” I say, putting her down and holding her hand as we go to Oliver’s office.

“Hey, Little Kat!” Oliver chimes, looking at Amelia over his glasses, crouching down to be at eye level with her, “I have something cute for you.”

“Is it a dress?”

“It might be,” he says, going over to one of the racks in the corner of his office, pulling out a cute dress with a tutu skirt.

“It’s pretty and purple! My favorite, thank you,” she chimes, wrapping her arms around his legs to hug him.

“You’re welcome, Red should be back soon.”

“Amelia!” Jane coos, walking past the office, she crouches down as Amelia runs into her arms.

“Kat, I came by to talk to you,” Adena says in my ear.

“Of course,” I say, taking her hand in mine, “can you keep an eye on Amelia for a little bit, I’ll bring you up a coffee.”

“Sure, Sutton will be back soon, we’ll keep this monster busy,” Jane says, tickling Amelia’s sides.

“I’ll bring you back a treat if you’re good.”

“A cookie?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I smile, kissing Amelia’s cheek. Adena and I make our way towards the elevator, I turn to Adena and smile, pulling her in for a kiss, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says quietly, looking into my eyes.

“Is everything okay?”

“Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My mother isn’t doing too well.”

“What’s wrong,” I ask, pulling her into a hug when I see her eyes begin to water.

“They don’t know, Jasmine called me this morning telling me that she was in the hospital.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We have to go see her, we need clearance that you can fly, though. You’re getting too far along.”

“I don’t have to go,” I say, looking down at the floor.

“I want you to go, she loves you just as much as I do, like you’re her daughter. She would like to see Amelia too,” Adena says, caressing my cheek.

“When do you want to go?”

“I would like to leave before the end of the week.”

“Okay, the passports are in the Louis Vuitton shoebox in our closet.”

“I know,” Adena chuckles, “when I get home I’ll book the flight, and I’ll call the doctor to see if you get clearance.”

“Okay, Baby,” I say, leaning in to kiss her, “I promised Little Love a cookie.”

“You did.”

“Chocolate chip, or sugar?”

“She does love chocolate chip, it’s her favorite.”

“Chocolate chip it is, do you want tea or coffee?”

“Tea,” Adena smiles, placing her hand on my small of my back as I order. She whispers something in my ear causing me to laugh, I turn and kiss her softly. “I love you,” I say through a laugh.

“I think that’s old news,” she teases, kissing me again. We get Amelia’s cookie, as well as a cup of tea for me and one for Amelia and we make our way back upstairs, hand in hand. “So I should have everything planned and ready to go before you get home.”

“Okay,” I nod, as we walk out of the elevator we hear the infectious sound of Amelia laughing, we turn the corner and see her standing in the middle of the bullpen singing a song from Moana at the top of her lungs.

“She’s just like you.”

“Hey, I can hold a tune. You one the other hand.”

“Mama!” Amelia says, cutting her one-woman show short, running over to us. Adena scoops her up into her arms, “did you get me a cookie?”

“Oh, you know you shouldn’t ask for your treats, but we did,” Adena smiles, kissing her cheek.

“Sorry,” Amelia sighs. I hold up the bag with the cookie in it and her eyes light up.

“Want to have your cookie at my desk before you leave?”

“Okay,” Amelia nods. I lead the way over to my desk, pulling over a chair for Adena. We sit, Adena has Amelia on her lap, “that’s me!” she says, pointing to one of the pictures on my desk of her as a baby.

“That is you, and we’re going to make room on my desk for the baby too.”

“When are they coming?”

“Soon, love.” I say, pushing the curls from her face, “did Mama tell you we’re going to go see Nana?”

“No, but Nana is sick.”

“And we are going to visit her,” Adena says.

“Okay, we going on a plane?”

“Yes.”

“Can I watch Moana?”

“We will make it work,” I laugh, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

* * *

I walk through the door, immediately kicking off my shoes and making way upstairs. I walk into the bedroom to see Adena was beginning to pack for our trip to England. “Hey,” she smiles as she walks out of the closet.

“Packing already?”

“We leave next Tuesday.”

“A week from tomorrow, like a whole seven days, and you’re packing now?”

“Just getting ready to.”

“For yourself?”

“Yes, I just put a few things that I know I’m going to want to wear and not want to forget,” Adena smiles, kissing me sweetly, “how was work?”

“I want to go take a bath, and never leave it.”

“Are you achy?” She asks, rubbing my back.

“Yeah,” I whine.

“Well, how would you feel if I told you everything is ready to go, and all you have to do is strip.”

“Really?”

“I figured you would be achy and want to take a hot bath, I started running it when I heard you come in, it should be ready to go,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me before unzipping the back of my skirt.

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“I think you’ve told me, once or twice,” Adena smiles, helping me out of my outfit.

“How was Amelia the rest of the day?”

“Good, she was happy to see you, happy that we are going away, and even though she knew you were coming home late today, she wasn’t cranky about it like she normally is. She went to bed fairly easy,” Adena explains, leaning against the bathroom door frame as I get into the bathtub.

“I love you,” I sigh, resting my head back.

“I love you,” she says, walking over and leaning down to kiss me.  
“Want to join me?”

“Do you think it’s big enough?”

“Sit behind me, we’ll make it work,” I say, watching as she pulls her tank top over her head before pulling down her pants. I move forward enough for her to sit behind me, she wraps her arms around me, resting her hands on my bump.

“We fit,” she whispers in my ear before kissing my neck.

“Told you,” I laugh, resting my head on her shoulder. I close my eyes as Adena begins to hum in my ear, “do you regret anything in your life?”

“Where is that coming from?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, playing with her wedding band she forgot to take off.

“Do you regret anything in your life?”

“No, but I don’t think I’ve had enough happen to regret anything.”

“If I could say I regret anything, it would be the fact that I left my mother. But she knows I left in order to save myself, and that makes it a little better,” she explains quietly, “why so somber?”

“I don’t know. I’m very moody this pregnancy,” I whine.

“I see that, do you want to talk to the doctor about it?”

“That’s not going to do anything.”

“We can try, see if it can help. You have an appointment Thursday anyway, you need paperwork saying you have clearance to fly.”

“We’ll see about bringing up my moodiness.”

“Sit up a bit.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to rub your shoulders, you’re too tense,” Adena begins rubbing my shoulders, “as much as I enjoy making you feel better, and good, I think you need to get a massage by a professional, Babe.”

“Really? Even my wife can’t help me out?”

“I’m sorry. I just want you to feel better, you know that,” She whispers, kissing my neck.

“And I’m grateful,” I say, “for everything you do. You are the most amazing wife and mother, I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“Thank you,” Adena smiles, kissing the side of my head.

* * *

“Mama, look!” Amelia says, rushing towards the window of the terminal where we waited for our flight.

“What is that?” Adena asks, entertaining our daughter’s innocent nature.

“Airplane.”

“Good job.”

“Are we going on that one?”

“No, we’re waiting for ours.”

“Okay, Mommy can we get a snack?”

“We can get a snack, I want one too.”

“What do you want, Love?” Adena asks, taking my hand in hers.

“I want pretzels, Mama.”

“Get Amelia whatever she wants, and surprise me with something sweet? I have to sit down, I’ll be by our gate.”

“Okay,” Adena nods, kissing me quickly before picking up Amelia. I find somewhere to sit and begin going through work emails and making sure my assistant was up to speed on how to handle meetings while I was gone.

“Mommy look!” Amelia says, running over to me, “pretzels and juice.”

“Your favorite.”

“I like this juice, it has Elsa on it, I couldn’t find Moana.”

“I know Moana is your favorite,” I chime, kissing her forehead.

“Here, Baby,” Adena smiles, handing me a cup, “hot chocolate, and a donut.”

“Mama wouldn’t let me have a donut.”

“You can have a bite of mine,” I say as she climbs into my lap. Adena takes the chair beside me, putting her camera bag at her feet.

“How long does it take to get to Nana?”

“A long time, you will probably sleep most of the time,” Adena chimes, turning in the chair so she faces Amelia and me.

“The whole time?”

“Probably, we’ll set you up with Moana and you should probably fall asleep.”

“Okay,” Amelia shrugs, “Mama I need help.” Adena smiles, placing her cup down and opening the pretzels for Amelia, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Love,” Adena smiles, caressing Amelia’s cheek.

“Have you heard any more about your Mom?”

“She’s still in the hospital, they’re running tests.”

“She’ll be okay,” I smile, reaching over and placing my hand on her knee.

“Mama, can I watch a video?”

“What would you like to watch?”

“Mickey, please.”

“Okay,” Adena smiles, reaching into my bag to get out the iPad we used for Amelia.

“Thank you,” Amelia chimes, pulling her pink headphones on her head.

“They think it could be cancer,” Adena says once she sees Amelia is occupied.

“Is it curable?”

“Jasmine said they think they may have caught it early enough, but they aren’t too sure.”

“Well, at least there is hope.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she sighs.

“She'll be okay. She’s a very strong woman.”

“I know, but I still worry, she’s all I have left. Besides you, Amelia, and the baby,” she says, taking my hand in hers.

“I never asked, where are we staying?”

“A hotel. I don’t want to stay with my aunts, especially if my mother isn’t in the house. Besides, even though this is a trip about seeing my mother, I would like to show Amelia the city. Spend time with her. I don’t expect you to be at the hospital with me every time I go either, I want you to enjoy your time off from work.”

“I like that idea,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“I knew you would.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

“Wake up, Little Love,” I whisper in Amelia’s ear, kissing her cheek.

“Are we there?” She mumbles, curling into my side.

“Almost, we’re getting ready to land.”

“Okay, Mommy,” she says through a yawn, “Hi Mama.”

“Hey, Baby,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia on the top of her head.

“Did I sleep the whole time?”

“Yes, but we did too.”

“Okay,” the little girl nods. Once we land, we get our luggage and Adena decides it would be a great idea to have our own car, rather than using Uber or taking mass transit, seeing as we didn’t know the systems. “Mama?”

“Yes, Love?” Adena asks as we walk up to the car, putting out bags in.

“You know how to drive?”

“I do, Mommy, doesn’t though.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Just be careful, it’s been a while,” I say, kissing her cheek before getting into the car. I situate Amelia in the back seat, “we should get her a booster seat or something from a second-hand shop, just so we have it for when we visit, I know we’ll be here again, especially when the baby is born and old enough to sit in a seat.”

“Good point,” Adena says, smiling as I get into the passenger seat, “ready?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mama, why do they drive on the wrong side of the road?” Amelia asks from the backseat as she looks out the window the best she can.

“I don’t know, Love. Maybe we can ask Nana when we see her.”

“Are we seeing her today?”

“I think we’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Okay, where are we going?”

“To the hotel, then we’ll go somewhere for dinner unless you want to stay in tonight?” She asks, taking my hand on hers and lacing our fingers together.

“I think staying in tonight is a good idea, give us time to adjust.”

“Okay,” Adena nods, squeezing my hand a bit. As soon as we walk through the door of the hotel room, Amelia runs as fast as she can and jumps onto one of the beds with a laugh. “She’s like you,” Adena laughs.

“She’s adorable,” I laugh, watching as she begins to jump on the bed, making a mess of it, “come here, you jumping bean,” I chime, walking over and holding her waist, “would you like to take a bath?”

“Okay!”

“I’ll go start running it,” I chime, kissing her cheeks.

“Mama?”

“Yes?” Adena chimes, digging through her suitcase to find something comfortable to change into.

“Are you going to sleep in the big bed with just Mommy?”

“Do you want a big bed all to yourself?”

“Yes!”

“Then you can sleep in the other big bed if you want.”

“Cool.”

* * *

Adena looks over my shoulder to the other bed, seeing Amelia curled up in a ball in the middle of the fluffy, cloud-like sheets, sound asleep. With a smile, Adena gets up quietly, grabbing her camera off of the table and takes a couple of pictures of Amelia, before pointing the camera in my direction, I roll my eyes, pulling the covers over my head to hide from her. I hear her giggle softly before making her way back into bed. “You are addicted to that camera.”

“I never want to miss a moment of her growing up. I want her to have photos to remember things by,” Adena says, running her fingers through my hair.

“You want to live in the moment, and also remember it for our daughter?”

“Exactly,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“How do you feel from the trip, I haven’t had a chance to ask you,” Adena says, placing her hands on my baby bump.

“Good, I felt a lot better after I showered, but still a little swollen.”

“As long as you feel good, that’s all that matters.”

“Everything is okay,” I say, leaning in to kiss her, “have you let anyone know you’re here?”

“Yeah, Jasmine knows. I told her to tell everyone else. My mother texted me, thanking us for coming all this way to check in on her. She can’t wait to see Amelia, and can’t wait for Amelia to experience London.”

“I can’t wait for you to be our tour guide.”

“Neither can I,” Adena laughs.


	25. Chapter 25

-Adena POV-

I follow Kat and Amelia as Kat walks with her towards the guards of Buckingham Palace.r I bring my camera up and begin taking pictures of Amelia trying to make the guards laugh, or break concentration. I couldn’t help but laugh as the little girl begins jumping in front of one of the guards, laughing when Kat does the same, “Love, can you stop taking pictures?”

“Never,” I say, putting the cap back on the lens and walking over to my family, picking up Amelia.

“Hi, Mama.”

“Hi, Baby,” I say, kissing her cheek.

“The man with the funny hat won’t move.”

“It’s his job not to move, he’s guarding the palace.”

“But he’s looking straight ahead,” she points.

“He still sees everything going on.”

“Okay, Mama,” she says, wiggling out of my grasp. She runs over to see if she can get the guard to react. I feel Kat wrap her arms around my waist from behind as best as she could.

“There’s something keeping me from you,” she chimes, referring to her growing bump.

“Our beautiful baby.” I laugh, turning to kiss her before taking her hand in mine.

“That’s going to look like some creature until they get cute about three months into life.”

“You’re mean,” I laugh, walking over to Amelia, “come on, Little Love.”

“Where we going?”

“Mommy is getting cranky.”

“Am not,” Kat pouts, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Whatever you say,” I chime, kissing her cheek. The three of us end up in a pub for lunch, much to the excitement of Kat and Amelia, who both order fish and chips.

“Mama, are we seeing Nana?”

“You know you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, Little Love,” I say, wiping some ketchup from the side of her mouth, “and yes, we are going to see Nana, we’re going to see how she’s feeling.”

“Okay. I love Nana.”

“She loves you too, she loves you so much.”

“I want her to be better.”

“So do I, Love.”

 

-Kat POV-

“Mommy is Nana going to be okay?” Amelia asks as we stand outside of the hospital room, watching as Adena spoke to Padma. Adena asked me to take Amelia out of the room so she and her mother could talk about her mother’s health status.

“I think so, Love.”

“I love Nana.”

“I love Nana too,” I smile.

“Mama loves Nana.”

“Of course, Nana is Mama’s mommy.”

“And Grandma is your mommy.”

“You’re so smart,” I chime, kissing her cheek.

“I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, Baby.” I look over to see Adena waving us back into the room. Amelia wiggles from my arms, rushing over and climbing onto Padma’s bed. “Everything okay?”

“She’s getting better. They’re clearing up the cancer, it seems like that caught it at just the right time. She’s lucky.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“It is, but her heart has an issue, and they’re trying to focus on that.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, pulling Adena into a hug.

“I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her,” she whispers against my neck.

“She’s going to be okay,” I whisper, kissing the side of her head. She pulls back, looking up at me with tears welling in her eyes, “Sweetheart,” I say gently as I run my thumbs gently under her eyes.

“I love you, Kat.”

“I love you, Adena,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her gently.

“Mama, Nana said she has a treat for me at her house,” Amelia chimes from the bed.

“Oh did she?” Adena smiles, pulling herself together for Amelia’s sake.

“Yes, but Jasmine is going to bring it later, so you’ll have to come to visit me tomorrow,” Padma chimes with a small smile.

“Okay, Nana.”

“How long are you girls staying?”

“Kat and Amelia are staying for a week. I’ll be here for two.”

“Mama’s gotta take care of Nana!”

“You are a very smart little girl, and I know your little brother or sister will be just as smart as you,” Padma chimes, kissing Amelia’s cheeks.

“Mommy and Mama don’t know that yet.”

“Don’t know what?”

“If the baby is a boy or a girl.”

“Well, what do you think it is?” Adena asks, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling Amelia into her lap while I go sit in the chair.

“A girl,” Amelia chimes.

“We’ll find out soon, Love.” I chime. The two women begin to speak Farsi to Amelia, leaving me out of the loop, but not in a mean way. I’m grateful Amelia can be exposed to her heritage and culture in a way that connects her to Adena more so than she is already. I smile when Amelia begins to sing what sounds like a nursery rhyme. Padma and Adena begin clapping when Amelia finishes singing, I join in and she smiles even more.

“Okay, Love. we have to let Nana rest, we will come to visit her tomorrow,” Adena says, getting up from the bed and kissing her mother on the cheek before picking up Amelia, “give Nana a kiss.”

“Love you Nana,” Amelia chimes, leaning out of Adena’s arms to kiss Padma’s forehead.

“Be good for your mothers.”

“Okay, Nana.” We make our way back to the hotel, putting Amelia down for a nap while Adena and I talked outside on the small balcony.

“Are you going to be okay with me being here an extra week? I know we haven’t talked about it.”

“I took that week to work from home to be with Amelia. But it’s going to be the first time in years since we’ve been apart. I don’t know how I’ll feel about that.”

“I know, but it will be quick. It’s only for a week.”

“The longest week ever,” I whine, resting my head on her shoulder.

“I know, Baby,” She chimes, running her hand up and down my thigh.

“Do you think your aunts would mind watching Amelia one night, so we could have at least one night together?”

“I don’t see why not. You act as though you aren’t going to see me for months.”

“I love you, and a week is a long time, especially since I’m pregnant.”

“I know,” she says, kissing the side of my head, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“What do you want to do when Amelia gets up?”

“We should just stay in. Give her a bath, order room service, watch a movie.”

“That sounds like an amazing plan,” Adena smiles, pulling me in for a kiss.

“I’m going to go shower quick,” I chime, watching Adena smile.

“Okay, Love.”

“Are you going to stay out here?”

“For a little bit longer, just thinking,” she whispers.

“Okay, Love,” I say, kissing her again before making my way back inside.

“Hi, Mommy,” Amelia chimes, sitting up in the bed with a lazy smile.

“Hi, Love. How was your nap?”

“I had a dream, there was a baby in it!”

“Was it your sibling?”

“Yes, it was a boy, his name was Kae!”

“Who did he look like?”

“Mama!” She giggles.

“Well maybe Kaeden will be here before we know it,” I smile, kissing Amelia’s cheek.

“Is everything okay?” Adena asks, closing the door behind her.

“I had a dream, my brother looked like you.”

“Your brother?”

“The baby,” Amelia chimes, pointing to my belly.

“Oh yeah, what’s his name?”

“Kaeden.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet your little brother, Kaeden.”

“Me too!”

“Mommy is going to take a shower, then I’m going to give you a bath. We’re going to order some dinner and watch a movie. How does that sound?”

“Okay! Can I have macaroni and cheese?”

“Okay,” Adena chimes, kissing Amelia’s cheek. After the three of us clean up and get comfortable in one of the two hotel beds, we enjoy our dinner while watching Toy Story 3.

“Why you crying, Mommy?” Amelia chimes, looking over at me when the movie was over to see I was crying like a baby.

“Andy gave his best friends away.”

“But Bonnie is going to take care of them!”

“Baby, it’s okay,” Adena chimes, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“Yeah, don’t laugh at Mommy!” Amelia says, standing up on the bed, taking my face by the cheeks and kissing my forehead, “I love you, Mommy. Feel better it’s just a movie.”

“I know, Lovebug,” I laugh, holding her close to me and kissing her cheek.

“I love you too, Mama,” she adds, turning in my arms to face Adena, kissing her cheek.

“I love you, Little Love,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia’s cheek.

“And I love my little brother too!” Amelia chimes, kissing my bump.

“You’re going to be a great older sister, aren’t you?” Adena asks, pulling Amelia into her lap.

“Yes, I will share some of my toys and make sure no one bullies him!”

“Why only some of your toys?” I ask, more curious about the answer rather than her statement.

“Because some of my toys are special and I don’t want them broken.”

“Well, that is a fair point to make.”

“But I will share the toys that aren’t.”

“He won’t be able to play with you for a little while, Love. Just understand that.”

“What’s he going to do?”

“For the first few months, Mommy and I have to take care of him and make sure he’s getting the proper care he needs.”

“Are you still going to care about me?”

“Of course we are, don’t you worry,” I say, taking her hand in mine, “we are going to love both of you the same, and give you each the attention you deserve. You just have to understand that babies can be a lot of work for Mama and me.”

“I will help!”

“As much as you can, and we will appreciate it.”

“No diapers,” she states, causing Adena and me to laugh.

“Of course not, you’re too young to do that anyway. Besides you may be in preschool by the time Kaeden is born.”

“I’ll be four when I go to school,” she says, holding up four fingers.

“Which is around the time Kaeden should be born,” Adena chimes, “all we know is that Mommy and I will be grateful for all of your help. All you need to know is that Mommy and I will still love you no matter what.”

“Okay Mama,” the little girl smiles. 


	26. Chapter 26

-Kat POV-

Adena and I share one last kiss before Amelia and I make our way into the airport to go home without her. “Bye-bye, Mama,” Amelia chimes, waving to Adena.

“Be good for Mommy, I will be home in a few days,” Adena says gently, kissing Amelia on the cheek.

“Okay, Mama.”

“I love you,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia again before looking at me.

“Why can’t you come home with us?”

“Baby, you act like I’m not going to see you again,” she says with a laugh.

“A week seems like forever.”

“I know, but you don’t have to worry. It will go by quick.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Be safe getting home and call me as soon as you land.”

“Of course,” I chime, leaning in to kiss her.

* * *

“I miss Mama,” Amelia says as she runs into the bedroom, jumping onto Adena’s side of the bed.

“So do I, but she’ll be home in a couple of days.”

“Can I sleep with you again?”

“Of course, Lovebug.”

“I love the big bed,” Amelia chimes.

“I know, Love.”

“How did you meet Mama?” She asks, sitting up with a bright smile on her face.

“Well, you want to know the whole story?”

“Yes please.”

“Mama was coming to find a job at Scarlet, she was going to work for Auntie Sutton taking pictures.”

“Of all the pretty clothes?”

“Yes, Baby,” I smile, pushing her hair from her face, “so, Mama got the job working at Scarlet, taking pictures of the pretty clothes. When I met Mama, I wasn’t really sure if I liked girls all that much.”

“Did you like boys?”

“Before I met Mama, I liked boys very much.”

“But you loved Mama more?”

“I didn’t know I loved Mama until I took the time to understand my feeling for Mama.”

“Oh,” the three-and-a-half-year-old chimes.

“Do you have a question?”

“Am I allowed to like boys?”

“You are allowed to like whoever you want to like, so long as they treat you nicely and you treat them nicely back. Don’t be mean to people and people won’t be mean to you.”

“But what if there are mean people. Like the one that hurt Mama?”

“You don’t fight them back, like Mama. She didn’t want to be seen as bad as they were.”

“Okay, Mommy. What if someone is mean to Kae?”

“You tell an adult, me or Mama. Or a teacher if it’s at school, got it?”

“Got it,” she chimes.

“Why is that Lovebug on my side of the bed?” Adena asks from the doorway with a smile.

“Hi, Mama!” Amelia chimes, rushing to the foot of the bed, holding out her arms to Adena.

“Hi Love,” Adena smiles, wrapping her arms around Amelia and kissing her cheek, “Hi, Kat.”

“Hey, you,” I smile, getting up and walking over to hug her, kissing her sweetly, “what brings you home early?”

“My mother sent me back here because she was sick of my moping. Turns out I missed you guys so much and I couldn’t stop complaining moping about it.”

“Sounds about right,” I tease, kissing her again.

“Is Nana okay?”

“She’s going to get better, when she’s better enough, she’s going to come and visit us.”

“I love Nana! She can share my room!”

“We’ll see about that when she gets here. Now, I’m going to go shower, and then you have to get ready for bed, Little Love.”

“Can I still sleep with you and Mommy?” Amelia asks looking between Adena and me.

“That’s up to Mama.”

“Mommy and I have to have grown up talk, but I will let you stay up for an extra ten minutes,” Adena says.

“Okay, Mama,” Amelia chimes, rushing out of the room.

“Grown-up talk? What does that mean?”

“It means I want to lie beside my wife and talk to her about everything and nothing because these past three days have felt like hell.”

“Only three days, to think you said a week wouldn’t be long at all.”

“You clearly don’t understand just how amazing you are as a wife and mother, and overall person. It’s very easy to miss you to the extent that I did,” Adena chimes, walking over and kissing me slowly, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I smile, running my thumb across her cheek.

“How is everything?” She asks, placing her hand on my bump.

“Good, coming home and having no one to rub my feet was annoying,” I pout, “but Amelia did it for an extra cookie.”

“Well, that worked out in your favor.”

“It worked out for both of us.”

“I’m going to shower before Little Love comes barreling back in here.”

“Okay,” I chime, kissing her again before she disappears into the bathroom.

“Where’s Mama?”

“Taking a shower, come here,” I chime, patting Adena’s side of the bed.

“Can we watch a movie?”

“We’ll ask Mama when she gets out of the shower.”

“Okay,” she chimes playing with the doll she brought in with her while I work a bit.

“Amelia,” Adena calls out.

“Yes, Mama?”

“Go in your room so I can change.”

“Okay,” the toddler chimes, rushing out of the room.

“Bug, close the door,” Adena chimes. Amelia turns on her heels and does what she is told. Adena walks into the room after peaking her head out of the bathroom door.

“You forgot a towel?”

“Yeah, I did,” Adena laughs, walking over to the closet to get a towel from the shelf. She dries herself off and quickly puts on something comfortable before towel-drying her hair a bit as she walks over to open the door, she smiles when she sees Amelia sitting on the floor outside our bedroom.

“Hi, Mama,” Amelia says with a giggle.

“Hi, Baby,” Adena smiles, bending over to kiss Amelia’s head when she gets up, “we’re not going to watch a movie tonight, but we can watch a quick show. How does that sound?”

“Good, I just want to lay in the big bed with you and Mommy.”

“So why not get a book and we’ll read instead of watching TV?”

“Okay, Mama!” Amelia disappears into her room for a moment. Amelia comes rushing back in as Adena lies down beside me, the little girl climbs up onto the bed, wedging her way between Adena and me, “I want to read this book.”

“A book about Elsa and Anna, why am I not surprised,” I tease, lying on my side and making myself comfortable as Adena begins to read the story. After a few moments, I feel my eyes begin to grow heavy as I fight off sleep, I look over to see Amelia was asleep and Adena was beginning to fall asleep as well, I smile as I allow the feeling of sleep to take over.

 

-Adena POV-  
  
“Baby, you’re going to have to let him go soon,” Kat chimes from her bed as I hold our son close, Kaeden Marcus El-Amin-Edison was finally here, just as the leaves began to change into different hues of orange and red, mid-October and Kat and I couldn’t be happier.

“Not yet,” I say, looking up from the sleeping newborn to see Kat looking over with a lazy smile.

“Mom is going to be here soon with Amelia, and you know she’s going to want to see him and hold him.”

“Then I’ll hold him until she gets here.” Not long after, there is a small knock on the door, I look over to see Marcus poking his head in with a smile.

“You girls ready?”

“Yeah,” Kat chimes from the bed, I get up and get into bed beside her, handing Kaeden over. Amelia runs into the room and stops at the foot of the bed, looking at Kat and me curiously.

“He’s tiny,” she coos, as I pull her into my lap.

“He was only born six hours ago,” I chime, pulling her curls back into a bun.

“He’s super new.”

“He is,” Kat laughs, “Mom, would you take a picture of us?”

“Of course, Sweetie,” Susan chimes, getting her phone out of her bag. “Okay, ladies, look at me and smile,” Susan sings, the three of us look over and smile.

“Can I hold him?” Amelia asks, looking at her little brother in awe. Kat and I look at each other for a moment, and Kat nods.

“Marcus, can you hand me that extra pillow over there?” I ask he walks over handing me the pillow, “thank you. Now, Love, because your brother is so tiny, I’m going to help you out.”

“Okay, Mama.”

“Okay, sit in my lap, legs criss-cross. I’m going to put this pillow on our lap and you’re going to hold your arms like this,” I explain, Amelia does what she is told and smiles as Kat slowly moves to put Kaeden in her arms. I wrap my arms around Amelia’s making sure to hold Kaeden’s head. “Now, when you’re holding a baby, you have to make sure you hold their head so they don’t get hurt.”

“Okay, Mama.” Susan continues to take photos of Amelia holding Kaeden for the first time.

“You four make such a beautiful family,” Marcus chimes as he walks up beside his wife.

“Thank you, Sir,” I smile.

“Adena, we’ve been through this, you either call me Marcus or Dad. No more of this ‘Sir’ nonsense.”

“I’m sorry. It’s a habit still.”

“It’s okay, but you’re the mother of my two beautiful grandkids.”

“One which has your namesake,” Kat chimes, looking over to see her father smile.

“Girls, you didn’t have to do that.”

“We discussed it enough and we aren’t going to have any more kids, so it was only right to have our son named after you, regardless of the science behind it,” Kat explains.

“Thank you, it is an honor,” Marcus says, walking over to kiss the top of Kat’s head, “you too Adena.”

“It was Kat’s choice, we didn’t really discuss it but it felt right and that was all that mattered,” I smiled.

“Regardless,” he smiles, and Kaeden begins crying.

“I think that’s a sign that he doesn’t want to hear about his name anymore,” Kat teases.

“Mama, why does he sound so sad?”

“He’s probably hungry, and Mommy has to feed him,” I explain as Kat takes Kaeden from Amelia and begins to feed him.

“Why does he eat like that?”

“It’s what mommies do.”

“How come you don’t have to do it?”

“Because I didn’t have Kaeden in my belly, it’s only when the mommy has the baby in her belly that they then feed the baby like that.”

“Like that time we saw the cat feeding her kittens by the steps outside?”

“Exactly,” I chime, “but Mommy only has to worry about one baby instead of three.”

“That seems better for Mommy,” Amelia chimes, causing all the adults to chuckle.

“It is, trusts me,” Kat chimes, kissing the side of Amelia’s head quickly.

“If I have a baby would I have to feed them like that too?”

“It’s a good idea too. But we don’t need to talk about this right now, we can wait until you’re old and having a baby.”

“When I’m a hundred?”

“Sure,” Kat says, humoring the toddler.

 

-Kat POV-

“Why is he harder than Amelia was at night?” I whine from our bed as Adena walked back and forth with the crying newborn.

“Maybe he’s colic? He seems like he has the symptoms.”

“What is going to help it stop?”

“Google it, we’ll follow what it says,” Adena chimes, nodding towards the laptop on the bed. After about twenty minutes and going through most of the things on the list, Kaeden was finally calmed down as he sucked on his pacifier. I watch as he looks up at Adena, she smiles down at him before muttering that she loves him in Farsi. She looks over at me with a small smile, “I never thought to ask you, but does it bother you that the kids are going to be bilingual?”

“That isn’t even a question. I want them both to be exposed to every facet of your culture no matter what, even if we adopt a baby and they are white, or black, or whatever else, I want them to be connected to you in more ways than one, and if that means they are fluent in Persian, I have nothing to complain about,” I say, leaning in to kiss her softly, “I love you, and I love our family, I never thought I would have this much love in my life, and I am grateful every single day.”

“I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”

“As am I.” 


	27. Chapter 27

-Adena POV-

“Hello, Little Prince,” I chime as I lay Kaeden down on the changing table, “you are the most handsome little boy in the world,” I coo, smiling as the five-month-old looks up at me curiously with a smile.

“Mama?”

“Yes, Love?”

“When you’re done, can you help me with my craft?”

“What about Mommy?”

“Mommy isn’t good at crafts like you,” the four-year-old chimes.

“Okay, Baby.”

“Thank you, Mama,” Amelia chimes before glancing at her brother, kissing the top of his head, “Hi Kaeden,” she smiles, “when will he start talking Mama?”

“In a few months.”

“Then he’ll learn my name?”

“He’ll learn to say it, but he already knows who you are.”

“He knows I’m his sister?”

“Yes, he knows, that’s why he smiles when he sees you.”

“He loves me,” she chimes, “and I love him.”

“And that’s what matters right?” I smile, “help me pick out his outfit for today?”

“Okay!” Amelia chimes, walking over to the dresser and opening the drawer.

“Remember it’s cold outside.”

“I know, Mama.” A few minutes later she comes over holding up an orange hoodie with a tiger on it, and a pair of denim pants, “this is good Mama.”

“That is very good, Auntie Sutton I think would be impressed you know how to coordinate things.”

“I learned from Auntie Sutton.”

“Well, awesome job, Pumpkin, high five,” I say, holding up my hand, she slaps her hand to mine and smiles.

“You should put white or black socks.”

“Yes ma’am,” I say playfully as she skips out of the room.

“Well isn’t he a handsome looking baby,” Kat chimes as we walk into the living room.

“Little Love helped put together the outfit.”

“Well, Auntie Sutton will be proud,” Kat chimes, taking Kaeden from my arms, “hey Little Prince,” she smiles, kissing his cheeks.

“What’s on the agenda today?” I ask, sitting on the couch.

“Mama, you said you’d help me with my craft,” Amelia chimes, walking over and climbing into my lap.

“I did, what kind of craft are we doing?”

“Snowman!”

“A snowman?”

“Yes! I learned it at school.”

“Okay, we can make a snowman, you’re going to have to teach me.”

“Okay, Mama!”

 

-Kat POV-

I walk into the kitchen with Kaeden to see Amelia showing Adena how to make a snowman out of a couple of coffee filters. When I picked Amelia up from school a couple of days ago, she insisted I take her to the store to get what she needed to make a small army of snowmen to have around the house, “Sweetie, be careful with the glue, I don’t want the counter to be sticky.”

“I know, Mommy. Mama told me already.”

“Well, thank you, Mama,” I chime, walking over and kissing the side of Adena’s head.

“You’re welcome, Mommy,” she says playfully, patting my bottom as I walked past her. I put Kaeden in his highchair, handing him a toy to play with, he looks at it curiously before sticking it in his mouth. I walk over to the fridge, getting Kaeden and Amelia each some juice while I wait for the kettle to boil for Adena and me to have a cup of tea.

“Thank you,” Adena smiles as I place a cup of tea in front of her, “are you okay?”

“More than,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her quickly before sitting down between her and where Kaeden was in his highchair.

“Look Mommy!” Amelia chimes, showing me one of the snowmen, “it’s you, Mama, me and Kaeden! We’re a snow family!”

“And a beautiful one at that, want to hang them on the fridge?”

“Yes, please. Mama, can you help?”

“Of course, Love.” Adena goes over and helps hang up the family of four snowpeople, “I think we look good as a family of snowpeople.”

“Me too, Mama!” Amelia chimes as Adena picks her up, “thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome, Baby,” Adena smiles, kissing Amelia’s cheek. I look over at Kaeden to see him watching Amelia and Adena carefully before looking over at me with a smile.

“Hi,” I coo, taking his hand as he reaches over to me, “I love you,” I chime, laughing when he smiles at me with a toothless smile, “you’re hungry aren’t you?”

“I’ll feed him,” Adena says, putting Amelia back on the floor.

“I’ll do it, can you just get me one of the fruits out of the fridge?” I ask Adena smiles, getting one of the containers of homemade baby food.

“Hey, Bug. Want to run with me to the store?”

“What are we getting?”

“We need some more fruit and veggies to make Kaeden’s food,” Adena says, handing me the jar of baby food.

“Can I get a treat?”

“We’ll see, go get your shoes and a coat,” Adena smiles, watching as Amelia runs out of the room, “do you need anything else?”

“Coffee, we’re running low, and whatever else you think we need, it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Adena leans in and kisses me softly, “we’ll be home in a little bit,” she says before kissing Kaeden’s forehead, “be good for Mommy.” Kaeden looks up at Adena and smiles.

“Ready, Mama!”

“Come to say bye to Mommy,” Adena says. Amelia smiles as she rushes over, wrapping her arms around me.

“Be good for Mama, and you can get two treats today,” I say, causing her face to light up, “but you still have to be on your best behavior.”

“Okay, Mommy! I will. See you later.”

“Be careful!” When I hear the door close, I look over at Kaeden who was holding his mouth open, waiting for more food, “you have the capacity to eat a lot like Mama,” I chime continuing to feed the happy baby.

* * *

“Mommy,” I hear Amelia whisper as she pokes my cheek, I open my eyes to see Amelia looking at me with a smile.

“Hey, Little Love. Were you good for Mama?”

“Yep, she let me get an extra treat!”

“Three treats, you must have been the best.”

“She was very good, well behaved, and helped me out when I needed it,” Adena chimes, walking into the house with an armful of bags.

“Can you keep an eye on your brother? He’s sleeping in his swing, but let me know if he wakes up.”

“Okay, Mommy!” Amelia chimes, going over to the door and hanging up her coat. I get up from the couch after putting on something Amelia would want to watch on TV, following Adena into the kitchen to help her put everything away.

“I got your favorite coffee, I got some stuff to make dinner tomorrow and of course, I bought everything to make hummus,” Adena chimes, kissing my cheek when I walk over to her. “How was Kaeden?”

“He was good, he ate and then we both deemed it naptime.”

“At least you got to take a nap,” she smiles.

“We both know I need my beauty sleep.”

“You’re beautiful no matter what,” Adena chimes, kissing me softly.

“Mommy, Kaeden is awake, and he’s stinky.”   
  
“Thank you, Bug.”

“I’ll go take care of him,” Adena chimes.

“Thank you,” I smile as Adena kisses my cheek before going to get the crying baby.

“Mommy?”

“Yes?”

“Can we make cookies?”

“You want to make special cookies like Grandma?”

“Yes please!” She chimes with a smile.

“Okay, go wash up and grab your apron.” I smile as she rushing over, getting her stepstool out from where it was kept, making sure to wash her hands before getting her apron. She smiles as she hands my apron to me before gathering the ingredients. Amelia moves around the kitchen with excitement as I preheat the oven and get out the mixer.

“Ready Mommy!”

“Let’s start then,” I smile, putting my apron on and tying my hair back, “find me the one cup measure?” I say, watching the little girl look for the proper measuring cup.

“Got it!”

“Do you remember how many of those we need for flour?”

“Two?”

“That’s right,” I chime, measuring out the flour in turn and letting Amelia dump it into the bowl.

“Can we add chocolate?”

“You want double chocolate chip cookies?” I ask and Amelia nods with a smile.

“Please.”

“Okay,” I turn and get the cocoa powder from the cabinet, “find the cup that says one half.”

“That’s this one, right?” she asks, holding up the cup, “the one and then a line and then two.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m super smart, right Mommy?”

“The smartest girl in the world,” I chime, kissing her forehead. By the time the dough is all mixed, Adena is walking into the kitchen with a smile.

“What’s going on here?”

“Mommy is making cookies and I’m the best helper ever!”

“I know you are the best helper ever,” Adena smiles, walking over and kissing Amelia’s cheek.

“Do you want to help Mama?”

“I would love to, but I’m going to do some work, okay?”

“Okay, we’ll bring you some when you’re done.”

“Thank you,” Adena chimes, kissing Amelia on the top of the head before kissing me softly, “bring me two?”

“Right from the oven,” I chime, kissing her again before she walks out of the kitchen.

“By the way, I have the baby monitor,” she pokes her head back in before leaving again.

“Mommy, can we make one super duper cookie?”

“A really big one?”

“Yeah, a really big one?”

“Maybe after we make at least one batch, deal?”

“Deal!” Amelia chimes, giving me a high five. We finish up baking cookies, getting the one tray out of the oven before putting in the next. I take two from the oven putting them on a plate.

“Go give these to Mama?”

“Okay!” Amelia chimes, walking out of the kitchen. She comes back soon after, skipping into the kitchen, “Mama was happy and said thank you, she also said to give you a kiss,” Amelia explains, stepping onto the stool and kissing my cheek.

“Can you go give Mama one from me?” I chime, cleaning up the last of the mess.

“Okay,” Amelia giggles, rushing out of the kitchen, she returns a few moments later with a piece of paper, “Mama gave me this and taped it shut so I wouldn't read it.”

“Okay, hang up your apron and put your stepstool away,” I chime, opening the note to see Adena’s cursive handwriting. I walk into the living room to see her smirking behind her computer screen as she looks over it, her eyes shining in a seductive way, “would you like to share with the class what this says, seeing as I don’t read your language?” I chime, showing her the note she wrote, chuckling as she takes it from me, reading it in her language carefully, making sure her tone was low and seductive in a way. She gets up from her chair, sauntering over to me with a sway to her hips and a smirk on her face, grabbing me by the waist and placing a kiss to my neck before muttering in my ear again. “I know what that one means,” I mumbled, kissing her deeply before the pitter patter of feet coming down the hallway causes us to break away from each other.

“Later, Love,” she whispers in my ear, kissing me sweetly as Amelia runs into the room.

“Mommy the oven is beeping.”

“Okay, I’ll get the rest out,” I chime, going back into ‘Mom-mode’.

“Mama, can we take funny pictures on the computer?”

“Of course, you know I love our funny pictures. Come and sit,” Adena smiles, patting her lap. When I walk back into the living room I see Adena and Amelia making funny faces at the computer screen, laughing soon after before making more funny faces.

“Come make faces with us Mommy!” Amelia chimes.

“I think I’ll pass right now, but I will later or next time, deal?”

“Deal!” Amelia says, shaking my hand when I walk past her, making my way upstairs to take care of Kaeden’s crying. I walk into his room to see him sitting up in his crib, his cheeks flush and tears rolling down them.

“Awe, Bub, what’s wrong?” I coo, taking him out of his crib, holding him close. I walk over to change his diaper and outfit, getting him into something that was a little more comfortable. Once out of his clothes and down to his diaper he begins to get less fussy and chuckles a bit as he puts his teething toy into his mouth, “there you go, you were too hot in that,” I smile, looking down at him to see him looking up at me with big brown eyes that reminded me so much of Adena’s and a smile to match. “You’re going to be a heartbreaker when you’re older, aren’t you? But your mother and I aren’t going to raise you like that, you are going to be a respectful young boy, and man, and an adult. Your mother and I aren’t going to take any patriarchal shit from you, just so you know. All the women in your life are going to make sure of it, you are going to respect all women no matter what.” I say, he looks at me curiously, cocking his head to the side before giggling. “Nice to know you listened to me, and you find me funny.”

“Mommy? Mama sent me to see if you need help and that we want to watch a movie.”

“I’m okay, you and Mama start the movie and then I’ll be down with your brother.”

“Okay. Mama put on the movie!”

“Your sister is loud, she gets that from me. If you haven’t put that together just yet. You’re probably going to be quiet like Mama,” I say, running my fingers lightly over the small tuft of curls on the top of his head, “I love you so much, Kaeden, it felt like it took forever to get you here and now that you're here, and have been for a few months now, I couldn’t be happier or more grateful. I love you, Little Prince.” I whisper, kissing the top of his head.

“Kat?” I hear Adena chime in my ear, feeling her wrap her arm around my waist.

“Yes?” I smile, turning to kiss her.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep, Little Man here was just hot. I figured I’d change him, put him in something lighter.”

“Ah. I know I went shopping but I don’t really feel like cooking, I was going to call and order in pizza or something. Do you have a preference?”

“No, whatever you feel like getting.”

“Okay,” Adena smiles, kissing me softly, “I still want to have fun later, so how about we put the kids to bed early?”

“Well, you do have to show me what you were talking about in your note.”

“Of course,” she mutters in my ear, kissing me again. She pulls away and laughs when Kaeden begins babbling. “I’ll stop kissing, Mommy, and let her get back to changing you.” Adena chimes, kissing Kaeden’s forehead, “I will see you both downstairs.”

* * *

Adena and I lie side by side, both catching our breath after several rounds of fairly glorious sex. I feel her turn to face me, I look over at her and see her smiling as I turn to face her, pulling her in for a kiss, moaning as I taste myself on her lips, “have I mentioned how much I love you?” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.

“Every day,” she smiles, “and I never get tired of hearing it.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get tired of hearing it?”

“Never from you. I love you so much, Kat. Nothing will change that. I feel like we have this discussion a lot.”

“I just want to know that you are always going to love me…”

“Forever, if I didn’t want to spend forever with you, I wouldn’t have married you.”

“Okay,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her.

“I better throw something on,” she sighs, listening to the sounds of Kaeden’s cries come from the baby monitor.

“Me too.”

“No, you stay like that, I’m going to get him to sleep and I’ll be back for you,” she winks.

“Babe, it’s nearly two in the morning, I’m tired.”

“Are you complaining about having sex?”

“Yes,” I whine.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” she teases, walking over to kiss me, “Put something on, I’ll be back in a little bit to go to sleep,” she smiles.

“I love you.”

“And I love you,” Adena smiles before going to attend to our son.


	28. Chapter 28

-Kat POV-

“Hopefully next week, our numbers will continue to rise, keep up the good work Kat!” Jacqueline says as a parting remark as our meeting comes to an end, everyone begins leaving the conference room, “how are the kids, Kat?”

“Very well, Kaeden is beginning to walk, but not on his own just yet, and Amelia loves preschool, which is a miracle.”

“That’s great to hear,” she smiles as I stand up from my chair, “I want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay?”

“There is talk about a position on the top floor.”

“On the board?”

“Yes.”

“That’s wonderful, I hope you make it up there.”

“No, Kat. I think you should go for it.”

“I’m very happy down here, trust me.”

“I know, and if you just go for the position yours won’t be replaced or discussed being replaced, but if you get it, then it will be a different story. If you don’t, everything will stay the same.”

“I don’t know, Jacqueline,” I say, shaking my head a bit.

“Think about it, and get back to me on Friday, is that fair?”

“Okay,” I nod, turning on my heels to walk out of the conference room, I look to see Kaeden stumbling along the bullpen, his eyes locked to mine with a smile as his pacifier nearly falls out of his mouth. I walk out of the room and he picks up speed, walking a bit faster before losing his balance, “oh, Bud,” I coo, walking over to where he was sat in the middle of the walkway. I pick him up, kissing his cheek before I look over to see Adena smiling where she stood by my desk.  
“He started walking on his own this morning,” Adena chimes as I walk over to her, greeting her with a kiss.

“You took photos?”

“Of course, Love,” she chuckles, placing her hand on my chest.

“So you came to visit because he started walking?”

“I also wanted to see if you wanted to get lunch with us before I have to get Amelia from school.”

“Yes, I would like that. We can go to the diner across the street.”

“Okay,” she nods, grabbing my bag for me as I carry Kaeden. We’re seated rather quickly, Kaeden remains on my lap after putting up a fight to not sit in the high chair, Adena smiles, taking a photo, of course.

“So, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” she smiles, handing the menus to the waitress after we give our orders.

“Jacqueline wants me to go out for a seat on the board.”

“Okay, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know if I want to take it,” I say, shaking my head a bit.

“When it came to your job, you know I support any choice you make. If you don’t want to have that power and responsibility then don’t take the job. We don’t need the money or anything like that, so whatever choice you make, I will support you.”

“I know, and I love that about you.”

“I know. No matter what, I want you to make choices that are right for you and right for our family. If that means you don’t want to have longer work hours or anything like that, then I know you will think it all through and do what is best.”

“I love you,” I chime, reaching across the table to take Adena’s hand when Kaeden pulls my hand back to him.

“Am I not allowed to have Mommy’s love?” Adena asks, looking at the little boy, laughing when he shakes his head no before laughing.

“I love you, Bud, but I love Mama too,” I chime, kissing the side of his head before reaching for Adena again.

“No!”

“Why is their first word always ‘no’?” Adena laughs.

“I have no clue, but it’s still cute no matter what.”

“I know.” The waitress comes by, placing our means in front of us as well as our drinks, she looks at Kaeden, who was looking up at her with a smile.

“He’s so cute, I can’t tell who he looks like more,” she chimes politely.

“Thank you,” Adena smiles.

“He has your smile, but her eyes.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say that,” I chime, smiling politely.

“Well, I mean it as a compliment, enjoy your lunch,” she smiles, walking away from our table.

“It’s nice to know there are still decent people in the world.”

“She seems young, there is a whole generation that doesn’t care about people being gay,” I say, feeding Kaeden a small piece of pancake.

“Don’t give him too much syrup, I don’t want him getting a sugar rush.”

“Okay. Mama is always going to be the boss,” I whisper playfully in Kaeden’s ear.

“That’s right, Mommy is too much fun to make her the boss.”

“Well that’s a good reason not to be the boss,” I laugh, feeding Kaeden another piece of pancake, “a little syrup isn’t going to make you lose it, you’ll be fine.”

“And you can deal with him when he’s up past his bedtime and you don’t get to have alone time with Mama.”

“Okay, Mama,” I sigh, knowing what she means and not wanting to miss out on alone time.

“Thank you, Mommy,” she chimes, smiling over her coffee cup.

* * *

I walk through the door and hear giggling in the kitchen, I smile, walking into the house to see Adena and Amelia preparing dinner. Amelia looks up at me and smiles, rushing over to give me a hug, “hi, Mommy!”

“Hello, Love. How was school?”

“Good! We painted pictures, I get to bring it home tomorrow.”

“Cool, are you being good for Mama?”

“Always,” Adena chimes as I walk over to her, kissing her cheek, “how was the rest of your day?”

“Good, Sutton may be stopping by in a little while. She was upset when she found out she missed Kaeden today.”

“Okay, it would be nice to see her.”

“I miss Auntie Sutton!” Amelia chimes.

“I know you do, Love.”

“I can’t want to see her, she has to see my room!”

“I know, she’s going to love it.”

“Amelia, let Mommy go get changed and check on Kaeden.”  
“Okay, Mama.” Amelia wiggles out of my arms, going back to helping Adena with dinner.

“He’s been napping, but I don’t want him to sleep too long,” Adena says.

“So the syrup didn’t affect him?”

“Apparently not.”

“So we get to have alone time?” I whisper playfully, kissing her cheek.

“Depending on how long Sutton is here for.”

“Damn it,” I whisper. Adena laughs as she pats my shoulder, “when she leaves I want to talk about what I brought up at lunch.”

“Are you going to take it?”

“I think I’m going to put in for it, and see what happens.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” she says quietly, kissing me before I go upstairs to change. After changing into something more comfortable, I walk into Kaeden’s room to see him standing up in his crib, holding onto the side with a smile.

“Hello, Love,” I chime, taking him out of the crib and kissing his cheek. I walk over and lay him down to change his diaper quickly before taking him downstairs.

“There’s my happy boy,” Adena coos, kissing Kaeden’s cheek as she takes him from my arms.

“Can I get the door?” Amelia chimes with a smile when she hears the bell go off.

“I’ll go with you,” I say, following as she rushes out of the kitchen and shrieks as she sees Sutton letting herself in.

“Hi, Amelia!” Sutton chimes crouching down to hug the little girl.

“Auntie Sutton, you have to come see my room! Mommy and Mama painted it purple.”

“That sounds so cool, I’ll come and see it after dinner, okay?”

“Okay, we’ll play with my dollhouse.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sutton chimes, giving Amelia a high-five. Amelia and Sutton continue to talk to each other when I go back into the kitchen to see Adena stirring a pot while Kaeden babbled from his highchair.

“We should take advantage of Sutton being here tonight.”

“You want to go out?”

“I want to spend time alone with my wife for a little while.”

“Where do you want to go?” She chimes as I walk over and wrap my arms around her.

“Somewhere. Just to be alone we with, even if we go down the street and sit on a bench, I don’t care.”

“Okay,” she smiles, kissing me. Sure enough, we end up not too far from the house, sitting on a park bench, holding hands and enjoying each other's company.

“So,” I say, looking over at her.

“You’re going to put in for the position?”

“Why are you so good at that?”

“At what?” Adena chimes with a coy smile.

“Reading my mind?”

“We’ve been married for six years now, almost seven. I know more about you than you’d ever like to know,” she says, kissing me softly.

“I love you, and I love that you know me so well, so don’t ever think I don’t appreciate it cause I do.”

“I know.”

“So I think I’m going to put in for it. I still have a few days to really make up my mind, but I think it will be good for me, for our family.”

“Whatever you want to do, Love. I support you.” 


	29. Chapter 29

-Kat POV-

I feel Adena begin to stir in my arms, causing me to wake up. I open my eyes, blinking a few times as I adjust to the light. I smile at the thought of the quiet Saturday morning, only to bury my face in the side of Adena’s neck when the sounds of small feet come pattering down the hallway. I chuckle against Adena’s shoulder when I hear her whine, pulling her a bit closer as the small body of our son coming and rushing into our room, jumping onto our bed, “oh, no,” Adena whines.

“Hi, Mama,” Kaeden chimes, sitting down on Adena’s stomach.

“Good morning, Baby,” she says, brushing away some of the curls that were a messy mop around his head.

“I had a bad dream.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, there was a monster.”

“There was?” I chime, turning to sit up a bit.

“Yes, Mommy. I mean it!” The three-and-a-half-year-old chimes.

“I believe you bud, but just be quiet so you don’t wake up your sister.”

“Sorry, Mommy.”

“It’s okay, she wasn’t feeling too well last night and we promised she could stay in bed all day,” Adena explains.

“We aren’t doing anything today?” Kaeden whines.

“No, we are staying home today.”

“But I wanted to go somewhere fun like every Saturday.”

“But today we can’t. Mommy is tired from working hard all week, and Amelia doesn’t feel well, so we are staying home,” Adena says as she sits up, stretching her arms above her head a bit.

“Can we make a pillow fort?”

“I think we can handle that,” I chime, watching Kaeden smile, “let’s let Mama pray, I’ll make some breakfast and then we’ll make a fort.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Kaeden chimes, climbing down from our bed.

“You can go watch the TV on downstairs.”

“Okay,” he smiles, rushing out of the room.

“I’m going to go check on Amelia,” I smile, leaning in to kiss Adena properly.

“Okay, Love,” I get out of bed, grabbing my robe and walking out of the room and into Amelia’s to see her wild curls peeking out from the top of her blankets. I walk over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it, pulling her blankets down a bit.

“Hi, Mommy,” she mumbles, opening one eye to look at me.

“Hi, Baby. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, and hot.”

“Do you want anything?”

“Juice, please,” she mumbles as I feel her forehead.

“Of course, Love.”

“Thank you, Mommy. Can you ask Mama to come in when she has time?”

“I’ll tell her to bring your juice.”

“Okay.” I walk out of Amelia’s room, meeting Adena in the hallway.

“How is she?”

“She would like some juice, and wants you to bring it in.”

“Okay, you want to start on breakfast? Kaeden is probably down there getting impatient.”

“I wonder where he gets that from,” I tease, causing her to shove my shoulder playfully.

“He inherited it from you. Children are impressionable.”

“Very funny,” I laugh.

“Mommy! What’s taking so long?” Kaeden calls up the stairs.

“Duty calls,” I chime, kissing Adena quickly before making my way downstairs. I walk into the living room to see Kaeden was already setting up the space to make a fort, “Sweetie, I love the enthusiasm, but you need to have breakfast first.”

“Okay, Mommy,” he says, running out of the living room and towards the kitchen, “can I have cereal?”

“No, we’re going to have a real breakfast, do you want eggs?”

“Okay, scrambled please,” he chimes, climbing up onto the stool at the counter.

“No problem,” I chime, turning on the coffee pot before getting everything together for him. I start fixing him breakfast, listening to him talk about different things and the plans he had for the day.

“Mommy, can I have melon too?”

“Of course, Sweetie,” I smile after putting his plate of eggs in front of him, “Baby do you want breakfast?” I ask Adena as she walks into the kitchen, fixing herself some coffee.

“Coffee is fine, you know me,” Adena chimes, kissing my cheek before taking a piece of melon from the bowl.

“How’s Amelia?”

“She’s okay, she wants to stay in her bed.”

“Is she hungry?”

“No, she said she just wanted juice.”

“I don’t think she’s been sick like this before.”

“She was when she was younger, remember, around her birthday she was tired and just wanted to be in bed.”

“Oh, right. I was pregnant with this punk.”

“I’m not a punk,” Kaeden laughs.

“No, you’re not a punk,” Adena coos, running her fingers through his hair, “I think you need a haircut, Bud.”

“I like my curly hair, Mama.”

“I know you do, but it’s getting a bit wild, Amelia’s is too.”

“But I like my hair, Mama, I don’t want a haircut.”

“We’ll talk about this later.”

“Okay. Mommy I’m done, can we make our fort now?”

“Get the blankets out,” I chime taking his plate and putting it in the sink. I feel Adena wrap her arms around me from behind, kissing the back of my neck, “hello,” I chime, feeling Adena rest her head on my back.

“We should take a vacation.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“Anywhere, I haven’t traveled in ten years.”

“Are you complaining about it?”

“No, not at all, I’ve been very happy these past years. I just think it’s time to go somewhere for a little bit.”   
“Okay,” I smile, turning in her arms to face her, “where would you like to go?”

“Paris?”

“Ooh, la, la. I think that would be good for the kids.”

“So do I. They need to have a bit of foreign cultural exposure, and Paris is my second home so, why not?”

“I’ll arrange it,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her, “we’ll go in the Summer.”

“Okay, we have to get the kids their passports.”

“I know, I’ll take care of it all,” I smile, kissing Adena softly.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Mommy! Come on!”

“Go help build his fort.”

“Of course, then I have a few work calls to make.”

“Okay,” she smiles, kissing me again. I walk into the living room to see Kaeden sitting on a pile of blankets.

“Finally!” He chimes, getting up and handing me a blanket.

“Sorry, I was doing grown-up things.”

“Grown-up things stink!”

“I know,” I smile, kissing his cheek. I finish up the fort, much to Kaeden’s approval and liking, “I have to make some phone calls for work, Bud. Then I’ll be back.”

“Okay, Mommy,” He smiles, peaking his head out.

“Auntie Sutton may come over soon, she’ll go in there with you.”

“Okay, Mommy. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Love,” I walk back upstairs and into Amelia’s room to see her sitting up in bed watching something on her iPad. “How are you feeling, Sweetie?”

“I’m okay, Mommy. I’m just tired.”

“Okay, Baby. Do you want anything?”

“Can I just have some crackers and juice?”

“Of course, I’ll send Mama up with them.”

“Okay.”

 

-Adena POV-

Kat walks into our room and crawls into bed beside me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Hello.”

“Hi,” she mumbles into my neck.

“Did Amelia go to sleep okay?”

“Yeah, she was sleeping when I went to check on her. I think she’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“What about Kaeden”

“He begged to sleep in the fort.”

“So you let him?”

“Of course,” Kat chimes, leaning up on her elbows, “I’m a sucker for his pouty face.”

“Because you’re a sucker for mine.”

“Exactly,” she laughs, kissing me softly, “I set the camera up down there, so we can keep an eye on him.”

“Well, at least we can give us peace of mind.”

“You can have peace of mind, you worry more than I do,” she teases.

“I do,” I say, closing my book and making myself comfortable. I turn to face her, running my fingers through her curls.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Would you ever change anything in your life?”

“Maybe the idea of not taking the position on the board, but I feel like if I did I wouldn’t be the wife or mother I want to be. What about you?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Really. I’m happy with my life, thus far. There isn’t anything I would change.”

“I feel like we have this discussion more than we should.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” I shrug, “I like being able to have these discussions as often as we can. I feel it keeps us connected and strong.”

“I’m happy I chose you.”

“I’m happy you chose me too,” I chime, giggling when she rolls her eyes at me.


	30. Chapter 30

-Kat POV-

**_15 Years Later_ **

“Mom, can you tell Mama to stop crying,” Amelia chimes as she walks around her room packing up things to take with her to college.

“My little girl is all grown up, and now she’s off to college,” Adena cries, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

“Babe, calm down,” I laugh, patting her shoulder. Adena takes a deep breath, looking at me through fogged glasses. I take off her glasses and clean them for her before putting them back on her.

“Yeah, Mama,” Amelia chimes, “everything’s going to be fine and I’m not going too far.”

“You’re going to Penn State. That’s pretty far.”

“And she’ll be able to come home on the weekends with her mountain of laundry for us to was, everything will be okay,” I smile, running my fingers through Adena’s hair.

“Mama!” Kaeden calls out.

“We still have this rugrat to worry about too, so don’t even worry about it,” I tease as Adena leaves the room to see what Kaeden needed.

“Why is Mama acting like she’s never going to see me again?”

“Because you are still our Little Love,” I chime, walking over, running my fingers through her curls, “when you have kids one day, you’ll understand.”

“I don’t know if I want to have them.”

“I said that once, and I ended up with two,” I laugh, “I was against having children until I met Mama, then I changed my mind. You’ll find someone who will change your mind. You just have to give everything time.”

“I know, Mom,” Amelia sighs.

“Are you happy to be going away?”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

“You can always come home, it isn’t a problem, go to school here.”

“I know, but I want to try being away.”

“Whatever you want to do, you know Mama and I will support you no matter what.”

“I know, Mom.”

“And for whatever reason you want to be a lawyer, which is odd seeing as you come from a photographer and magazine editor,” I tease, causing Amelia to laugh, “but you will be the best lawyer you can be, and your mother and I are supporting you no matter what.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, Love. I’ll let you finish getting everything together, we have to leave early tomorrow,” I say, walking out of her bedroom. I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen to see Adena attending to Kaeden. “What happened to you?”

“I fell,” Kaeden chimes as Adena cleans up his scraped knee.

“Doing what?”

“I was over at Jayden’s house and then I saw what time it was and ran home, I fell on the step.”

“Ah,” I nod.

“All clean, Love. Be careful please,” Adena chimes, patting his leg.

“I promise,” he chimes making his way up to his room.

“Watch the stairs!” I call out, laughing a bit when I look to see Adena rolling her eyes as she puts away the first aid kit.

“Your children are turning me grey,” Adena chimes.

“You always rescind custody when something happens with either of them,” I tease, walking over and wrapping my arms around her.

“I love them so much they worry me, and therefore I pass the blame to you,” She mumbles against my chest, “they get their rebellion from you.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“What would you call it?”

“Well, Kaeden is just clumsy, and Amelia is at the age where she is starting to build her life.”

“And wants to be a lawyer.”

“That’s what she wants to be,” I shrug.

“She wants to be an immigration lawyer, she wants to help people.”

“Like you?”

“Yeah,” Adena smiles, “so I am proud of her for choosing something that interests her enough to want to help people like me.”

“Well, I’m just as proud of her, and know she will do well.”

“Kaeden on the other hand.”

“I’m just going to be happy if he picks a decent career path.”

“At this point, I think he’s going to be a painter, and you know it.”

“Speaking of that, he needs more canvas, he’s started painting his bedroom walls.”

“I know,” Adena sighs, “back to my grey hair remark.”

“Have I ever mentioned how much that doesn’t bother me.”

“What?”

“Your greying hair,” I chime, tucking a strand behind her ear, “you don’t have to keep dying it if you don’t want to, although, I think you’ll start looking more like your mother if you did,” I tease, causing her to shove me playfully before pulling me in for a kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whisper, kissing her again.

“Hey, Mom?” Kaeden asks, walking back into the kitchen with a container to fill with water.

“What’s up?”

“Can I paint my ceiling?”

“Absolutely not,” Adena says, “your line is drawn at the walls, and although your artwork is beautiful, you and I can go get more canvas.”

“Okay,” he sighs.

“Soon you can go live on a farm in the Hamptons and paint in a barn, like Pollack, but until then you are keeping your paint to canvases.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kaeden smiles, “can we go soon?”

“Yeah, we can go now,” Adena nods, “do we need anything while I’m out?”

“No, I think we’re good,” I say, kissing her quickly, “be careful.”

“Of course.”

* * *

“I can’t believe she’s going to college,” Sutton chimes, walking over and sitting beside me as we had our going away party for Amelia.

“You sound like my wife.”

“I know, but I’ve seen that little girl grow up, it amazes me as much as it amazes both of you.”

“And you have a little one to watch grow up.”

“She’s already ten and I can’t wrap my head around it,” Sutton chimes, looking over at her daughter Sophie.

“Kaeden seems to have his eye on her.”

“Imagine if those two ended up together?”

“We’re practically family as it is.”

“But we’d share grandkids!” Sutton says excitedly.

“He’s not even in high school yet and has turned his entire bedroom into a piece of art, and Sophie is a fashionista if I’ve ever seen one.”

“An artsy boy meets a fashionable girl. They’re both creative, Sophie wants to go to FIT and become a designer. And Kaeden…”

“Wants a farm in the Hamptons and to live like Jackson Pollack.”

“Would he settle for a loft in Brooklyn to keep the dream alive?”

“Are we arranging out children’s marriage?”

“Yes, we are. It’s settled.”

“You know, I left Iran in order to not be involved in arranged marriages and yet, here you are arranging out son’s?” Adena chimes as she leans against the back of the couch between Sutton and me. I turn, facing Adena with a smile as I lean in to kiss her softly.

“Sutton and I are just living out a fantasy,” I shrug.

“Ah,” Adena nods, kissing me again.

“Speaking of the Middle East, Jane sends her best. She’s reporting from there and was regretful that she could come.”

“Let her know we thank her, and hope to see her when she gets back.”

“Of course,” Sutton chimes, “she said she was sending Amelia some money as a gift, of course.”

“We’ll thank her, she should be home soon right?”

“The end of the week.”

“Mom! Kaeden painted me a picture,” Sophie chimes, walking over a with canvas that was pretty small.

“That’s very sweet of him, we’ll hang it up in your room when we get home,” Sutton smiles at the blonde little girl who looked exactly like her. I look at the canvas, it was abstract, different shades of red and pink made up an ombre style for the background. Different shades of blue and purple were then dripped onto it haphazardly.

“He’s very expressive,” Adena comments, “Granted it looks like nothing, but there is a way in which he did everything, it’s subtle and cared for. Precise in how he dripped the colors, how he blended the background…”

“This is what happens when an artist reproduces,” I tease.

“You’ve grown more sarcastic in your old age than I thought you would,” Sutton chimes.

“She’s trying to hide the fact that she’s upset her daughter is going away,” my mother chimes.

“That isn’t a secret, Susan,” Adena chimes.

“No, it isn’t,” I sigh, leaning into Adena as she wraps her arms around my shoulders from where she stood behind the couch. I feel her kiss the side of my head.

“I love you,” she whispers in my ear, sending a slight shiver down my spine.

“I love you, more,” I whisper, turning to kiss her sweetly.

“I doubt that,” she smiles against my lips, kissing me again.

“You two still make me sick, even after all these years,” Sutton groans, finishing off her glass of wine.

“Too bad there will be many more to come,” I tease.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You two were just making an arranged marriage between our son and your daughter,” Adena chimes, “if you aren’t used to us already, you should start.”

“Adena is feisty when she’s tired,” Sutton teases.

* * *

I walk into the bedroom to see Adena was already curled up under the covers. I walk over and notice she isn’t sleeping, but she’s lying quietly, “come to bed.”

“Let me change,” I say, kissing her forehead. I quickly change into something to sleep in, before climbing into bed beside her, wrapping my arms around her as she wraps hers around me.

“Our little girl is leaving tomorrow,” Adena mumbles against my chest.

“I know. We still have to take her and drop her off.”

“I know but we aren’t coming home with her.”

“But we’re coming home to a thirteen-year-old with a Picasso complex.”

“That’s an odd way of putting it,” Adena laughs, leaning up and resting her hand on my chest, she reaches up, caressing my cheek, “do you think we did well with them?”

“I mean, Amelia lasted eighteen years, never broke a bone, got straight A’s all through school. We have to put braces on her teeth, which thank god for insurance,” I tease, “she wants to be an immigration lawyer. She chose to be that all on her own, there is no reason we should have to worry about anything. We did amazingly, Adena. We still have Van Gogh to worry about.”

“He’s going to be famous before he’s eighteen. I want to take some of his work and do a showing in the gallery in Midtown.”

“Whatever you want to do, Love. I will support all the decisions like I have all these years. Does Kaeden want to show off his work?”

“He does. We’ve spoken about it and he’s interested. He’s signed the paintings he wants to be shown.”

“So all of them?” I tease.

“Most of them.”

“I wish him all the best,” I smile, “and with you, I know he’ll do amazing in the industry,” I say, kissing her sweetly. I feel Adena shift a bit, lying on top of me and straddling my waist. Adena deepens the kiss as I run my hands down her back. She sighs as I start kissing her neck, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Mom? Mama?” Amelia calls out, opening the door slowly. Adena kisses me one last time before turning back to lie on her side of the bed.

“Yes, Love,” Adena says as Amelia walks into our room, crawling into bed between us.

“You’re sleeping with us?” I whine.

“Leave her be,” Adena says, wrapping her arms around Amelia, “it’s her last night home.”

“And should be spent in her own cozy bed.”

“Shut up, Mom,” Amelia snaps, pushing me a bit.

“I love you, Amelia,” I chime, kissing the side of her head as I turn over to go to sleep.

“I love you too, Mom. And I love you, Mama.”

* * *

The move in process was quick and painless but not void of tears on Adena’s part. Amelia was happy to finally meet her roommate, who she had made friends with rather quickly after getting the room assignment. The ride back to Brooklyn was quiet as Adena held my hand while I drove.

“How long before she’s transferring to Columbia or NYU?” Adena chimes, rolling her head to the side to face me.

“I think she’ll hold out for the long haul.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she likes her roommate, she seemed to feel better once she set everything up, there is no real reason for her to want to come home.”

“You’re right,” Adena sighs, “Kaeden’s showing is tomorrow night, are you able to come?”

“Yeah, of course,” I nod, “I don’t have any meetings, everything should be done in a work day, if anything I’ll just leave early and move meetings,” I smile, raising the back of her hand to kiss it.

“Don’t disappoint him, not with something like that.”

“Come on, why do you have to say that?”

“You’ve been disappointing him with special events since he was eight when you took that board position, you changed.”

“Don’t think it doesn’t upset me to know I’ve disappointed my son and my daughter.”

“What about your wife?” I look over at her to see a coldness in her eyes

“Don’t you think for a second that disappointing you isn’t the worst thing that I have ever done. I think about it every day and I try to make things better. I try to move on from one incident before the next one. But overall, I know I am lucky enough to have a wife that chooses to stay by my side, no matter how disappointed she may get.”

“I love you too much to leave you just because you miss an anniversary dinner or birthday, I understand you’re working, but it may be harder for the kids to fully understand. No matter how many times I’ve explained it to them, they would still be upset about it.”

“Well, I won’t upset Kaeden this time, I promise.”

 

-Adena POV-

Kaeden was staying off in a corner as people walked around looking at his work, most people were impacted by it, others just admire it. I walk up beside him, wrapping him in a hug, “she’ll be here, Love,” I whisper in his ear, kissing the side of his head.

“But it’s almost nine,” he sighs, turning his head to look at me with sad eyes, “she never shows up.”

“I know, Sweetheart, but she will.”

“Ever since she got that stupid job she doesn’t come to anything.”

“Kaeden,” I say in a warning tone.

“I just want to stand in this corner and be left alone,” he grumbles.

“Okay, Sweetheart,” I nod, kissing the side of his head. I continue to make my rounds, greeting old friends and new faces. A rush of curls catches the corner of my eye, I look and see Kat, standing in the entryway looking frazzled and out of breath. She meets my gaze, and I see her sigh as she walks towards me.

“I’m so sorry,” She says, wrapping her arms around me, “there was a legal issue, I had to sit in on it, I tried getting out of it, I truly did…” she rushes, tears forming in her eyes.

“Hey, hey,” I say, wrapping my arms around her, “show Kaeden you’re here.”

“Where is he?”

“Sulking in the corner.”

“Are his paintings selling?”

“Very well, he’s going to have the start of a small fortune.”

“Wonderful,” Kat smiles, “I love you,” she says, kissing me quickly before walking over to Kaeden.

 

-Kat POV-

I walk up to Kaeden to see he is sitting with his head down, curls flopping in front of his face, “you need a haircut,” I chime, causing him to look up at me.

“You’re late,” he huffs, trying to hide the fact that he’s happy I actually showed up.

“Does that make it better than not coming?”

“A little,” he shrugs, “but still late.”

“I’m very proud of you. Mama said you have the beginnings of a small fortune for someone who’s only thirteen.”

“Mama said she’ll going to let me use part of her photo studio. She’s going to split the space down the middle.”

“I don’t know why we didn’t think of that, months ago.”

“She said the same thing,” Kaeden smiles.

“We’ve both had so much going on that it slipped our minds apparently.”

“Do you think I’ll be famous one day?”

“Most kids your age aren’t having private showings at a gallery, even if they are aspiring artists.”

“I know, I feel like it isn’t fair because Mama is pushing my art.”

“Do they know she’s showing her son’s art?”

“No,” he mumbles.

“So, it’s fair,” I shrug, “don’t worry about anyone else. You are talented and have nothing to worry about.”

“I know your job is important and all, and you do a lot, but can you try not to be late the next time I have a showing? I know Mama is the artsy one, but you’re my mother too, and I want you both here from the beginning, not you showing up late.”

“I promise Love,” I smile wrapping him in a hug.

* * *

“He was happy you showed up,” Adena chimes as she walks into where I was sat on the couch, climbing into my lap, “even if he didn’t say it exactly, he told me just now.”

“I promised him I’ll be at whatever other showings he has. I was surprised today was so successful.”

“I am too,” she chimes, burying in her face in my neck, “I love you, Kat.”

“I love you too, Adena,” I chime, kissing her forehead, “I always have and always will.”


	31. Chapter 31

-Adena POV-

I walk into the kitchen to see Kat sitting at the counter, typing away feverishly at her laptop. I walk you behind her, kissing her neck as I wrap my arms around her, “hello,” she chimes, tilting her neck a bit. 

“How are you?”

“Good, working.”

“Ah,” I chime, holding her a bit tighter.

“Have you heard from Amelia yet?” 

“She’s doing okay, Ryder said she was doing okay, but she isn’t dilated enough to push yet. She’s been in labor for nearly ten hours.”

“We should go up there soon, I know she said she didn’t want us to go, but I think we should.” 

“We will in a little bit, I want to respect her wishes.”

“I know, but still, I want to be there for her. I remember how tough it was.” 

“But we should still respect what she wants, just her and Ryder. His parents aren’t even allowed to be there.”

“Okay, fine. Have you heard from Kaeden at all lately?” Kat asks, pushing her glasses to the top of her head and rubbing at her eyes. 

“There is evidence that he’s been in and out of the studio. Every time I go to work, there’s more canvases and paint spread around than the day before. He’ll leave a note saying he’s fine and not to worry, or he’ll ask for some money cause he’s sick of eating ramen,” I laugh, much to Kat’s annoyance, “come on, he likes his life, he’s enjoying his life. If he wants to be an actual starving artist let him. He knows that we’re here to help him no matter what, but I think he tries to live his life without submitting to the fact that he has a safety net.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m just happy he’s happy doing what he loves.”

“He has a piece being considered for the MoMA.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, he left me a Post-it note on my printer. I don’t think he wants it to be a big deal.”

“But it is a big deal. My son, our son, is going to have his work shown on the MoMA. I’m proud of both of them.”

“So am I,” I smile, kissing Kat sweetly until I hear her phone start ringing.

“It’s Ryder,” she chimes answering the phone, “okay, we’ll be there soon,” she says, looking at me with a smile as tears begin to well in her eyes. 

“Everything okay?”

“We have a grandson,” she coos, wrapping me in a tight hug, “do you want to go over there?”

“Yeah, I’ll get ready,” I chime, kissing Kat’s temple.

 

-Kat POV-

Adena and I walk into the hospital room to see Amelia was currently holding her son, while Ryder ran around taking pictures, I turn to Adena and laugh, “he’s taken over for this generation,” I tease, causing Adena to shove me playfully.

“Hi, Mama,” Amelia chimes, “hi, Mom.”

“Hello Love,” Adena chimes, walking over to Amelia, kissing the top of her head, “how do you feel?”

“Like crap,” Amelia laughs. 

“You’ll feel like crap for a little while, once you take a good nap, you’ll feel better,” I chime, walking over and kissing her forehead. 

“This little guy is, Sasha Marcus,” Amelia smiles, as Adena taking Sasha from her hands. 

“Hello, Sasha, you look like your daddy, but you have your mother’s eyes,” Adena chimes, looking down at the infant who was looking up at her with deep brown eyes.

“I take that as a compliment,” Ryder chimes, taking photos of Adena and Sasha.

“How does it feel to go from a camera-crazy mother to a camera-crazy husband?” I ask, causing Amelia to laugh.

“It doesn’t seem like much changed, did Mama take pictures of you every moment she could?”

“Of course, no matter what was going on, she always had a camera around, especially before you and your brother were born.”

“I still have all of  _ those _ photos,” Adena chimes in my ear.

“We should look through them later, I’d like to see myself at twenty-five again.”

“You still look amazing, so don’t even go there,” Adena chimes, kissing me softly.

“My turn to hold the baby,” I smile, taking Sasha from her arms. I look down at the baby to see him smiling up at me for a moment before opening his mouth and letting out a scream. 

“Looks like Grandma upset you,” Adena teases. 

“I don’t want to be Grandma!”

“Well I don’t want to be Grandma, and we both cant be Nana,” Adena chimes, rocking back and forth a bit resulting in Sasha calming down a bit.

“We should just have him call you Houdini for all I care, you’re the first person to hold him and calm him instantly,” Amelia chimes. 

“Your mother always had that special way about her. She could calm you and your brother down instantly.”   


“It’s a gift,” Adena chimes.

 

**_*Four Years Later*_ **

I hear the front door open and smile as the pitter-patter of tiny feet rush through the hallway, I get up from where I was sat in the kitchen, jumping in front of Sasha, causing him to jump a bit before laughing, “Hi Nana!” the little boy chimes, jumping into my arms.

“Hello, Bud, how are you?” I ask, kissing his cheek.

“Good! Where’s Gran?”

“Gran knew you were coming over for the weekend, and so she wanted to go get some work done with Uncle Kayden.”

“Is he coming over?”

“He might come by, he was excited to hear you were coming over.”

“I hope he comes over. Are we going to build a fort?”

“It wouldn’t be a great sleepover if we didn’t,” I smile kissing his cheek.

“Thank you again, Mom, for taking him on such short notice,” Amelia chimes, dropping his bag on the floor beside the staircase.

“Your mother and I will always take him no matter what. You and Ryder deserve a weekend alone.” 

“I like staying with Nana and Gran!” 

“And we love having you,” I chime, kissing his cheek, “take off your coat, and hang it up the hook, I’ll bring your bag upstairs.”

“Okay!” Sasha chimes, running up the stairs with his own bag.

“I actually have some news,” Amelia chimes, looking up the staircase to see Sasha was out of earshot. She reaches into her bag and smiles. 

“Really?” I chime, looking at an ultrasound photo.

“Yes, really.”

“Congratulations,” I smile, wrapping my arms around her, “how far along?”

“About ten weeks, I just went this morning.” 

“Does Ryder know?”

“I’m telling him tonight.”

“Telling who what?” Adena chimes, walking through the door with a smile, “Hello, Love. Where’s the little guy?”

“He ran upstairs, and I was talking to Mom about this,” Amelia chimes, showing Adena the sonogram.

“Really?” Adena smiles.

“Yes, ten weeks.”

“Congratulations, Love,” Adena chimes, wrapping her arms around Amelia, “does Ryder know?”   


“I’m telling him later, that’s why you have the Gremlin for the weekend.”

“Your mother and I will always take him, you know that.”

“And before you know it, you’ll be taking two,” Amelia chimes, “okay, I’m going to get going. Sash! Mommy’s leaving!”

“I love you Mommy,” he chimes, from the top of the stairs, sitting on his bottom and sliding down the steps. 

“Be good, I will see you tomorrow,” she chimes, kissing his forehead.

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“Bye-bye,” Sasha chimes, waving to Amelia as she walks out of the door.

“How are you doing Sash?” Adena chimes, kissing his cheek.

“Good, can we make a fort?”

“I don’t see why not,” Adena chimes, “Nana, go get the blankets.”

“Okay,” I chime, kissing her cheek.

“Is Uncle Kaeden coming over?” Sasha asks as he follows Adena and me into the living room.

“He said he’ll come by in the morning, he really wants to see you but he has to work.”

“Okay,” Sasha chimes, as he starts pulling the blankets out of the basket to start building our fort. Once we finished, Sasha crawled into it and began setting up how he wanted the inside to look like, making sure it was comfortable for the three of us. 

“I still got it,” I chime, admiring my fort, Adena scoffs and rolls her eyes. 

“Fort Master of the El-Amin-Edison, household,” she teases.

“I need to maintain my title for the future generations.”

“Of course you do,” she smiles, kissing me quickly,

“Ewwww,” Sasha laughs, poking his head out of the tent, “Nana, I’m hungry.”

“I was just going to start making something for dinner,” Adena smiles, “what would you like?”

“Fesa-joon!” Sasha chimes.

“How about we have that tomorrow,” Adena laughs, running her fingers through Sasha’s curls after he ran over to her. 

“Pizza!” He says with the same amount of excitement.

“I knew you would want that, and fesenjoon, you’re lucky I got everything for both.”

“Yay! Can I help?”

“Of course,” Adena smiles, picking up Sasha and walking into the kitchen. 

“Nana, are you coming?” I smile at Sasha, walking into the kitchen. He smiles, going back to where Adena was, standing on the stepstool. 

“Are you going to watch, or help?” Adena chimes, looking at me over the top of her glasses.

“Watch,” I chime, resting my elbows on the counter and my chin in my hands.

“Nana doesn’t get any for just watching,” Sasha chimes, pressing his little hands into the dough.

“You’re going to let me starve?” I say, melodramatically, causing Sasha to laugh.

“No,” he says through a giggle.

“Oh, thank you.” 

“I love you, Nana!”

“I love you too, Sash,” I smile, reaching over and patting his hand. After dinner and Sasha’s bath, the three of us gathered in our fort, ready to watch a movie. I hear the front door open and close as I set up the movie, I look over to see Kaeden walking in with a smile, holding a finger up to his lips, signaling me to be quiet before pointing towards the fort, asking if Sasha was in there. I nod, smiling as he greets me with a quick hug and kiss to the cheek. I watch as he walks over to the fort, crouching down and letting out a loud roar, causing Adena and Sasha to shout.

“Uncle Kae!” Sasha shouts, tackling Kaeden to the floor.

“Hey, Little Man,” Kaeden chime, as he falls to the floor. 

“Are you staying over?”

“I think I’ll stay over, is it okay if I hang in this cool fort?”

“Yeah, Nana and Gran won’t care!” 

“As long as you two aren’t up until tomorrow morning,” Adena chimes as she makes her way out of the fort.

“I know, Mama, don’t worry,” Kaeden chimes, “I have a busy day tomorrow anyway.”

“You’re not going to be here tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, Bud. I have to work. I have a last minute flight to Paris.”

“Why are you going to Paris?” I ask.

“Some gallery caught a showing I did here and they want to do a showing there. The woman says she knew you, Mama.”

“Coco?”

“Yeah, she was surprised when I told her I was your son. More or less, she was surprised you had a son.”

“She called you?”

“She called my agent, and then I spoke to her.”

“Oh, okay. Just be careful with her, make sure she’s being fair, make sure your agent is aware of what she’s doing.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he nods.

“But she will make you a lot of money,” Adena chimes, causing Kaeden to laugh.

“More to donate,” he chimes.

“How did he become such an amazing young man?” I ask Adena playfully.

“He gets it from me,” she chimes, causing Kaeden and me to laugh. 

“Uncle Kae, can we watch a movie?”

“Of course, let me go get changed, and I’ll be right back,” Kaeden says, walking over to get his bag from where he dropped it by the door. After the boys were settled, Adena and I made it up to our room, we sat in bed quietly when there was a knock in the door. Kaeden peaks around the door with a small smile, walking in when Adena waves him over.

“How’s Sasha?”   


“He’s good, he fell asleep a little while ago. I just wanted to wait a few minutes before moving.”

“Smart move,” I chime, “how are you?”

“I’m good, Mom. You would know if I wasn’t.”

“I know. You’re still my son, I still worry about you.”   


“I know,” he smiles.

“How are you and Kaya?” Adena asks, pushing her glasses to the top of her head.

“She’s good,” Kaeden nods, “She’s excited to come with me to Paris.”

“Are you going to make an honest woman of her,” I ask, watching as his cheeks turn red and a smirk play on his face.

“I was going to take a page from your book and propose in France,” he says with pride in his voice.

“Did you get a ring?”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag,” Kaeden says, getting up and leaving the room.

“Can you believe it?”

“That he actually wants to get married? No, I can’t honestly,” Adena chimes.

“You never thought he would?”

“Not really, but I am happy that he found someone he wants to be with, Kaya is good for him.” 

“She is,” I nod. 

“Okay, so it isn’t ostentatious or anything like that, but I think she’s going to like it,” Kaeden says, looking at the ring as he walks over to us. He shows us the ring, it was a single square diamond on a white gold band. 

“It’s perfect, she knows you love her no matter what and will be happy regardless, Love. I am very proud of you,” Adena chimes.

“We both are,” I chime.

“Thanks,” he smiles, looking at us, “I hope she says yes.”

“She will, Love. Don’t worry.” 

“I think I’m going to be nervous until she says yes.”

“I was nervous until your mother said yes,” I say, taking Adena’s hand in mine. 

“How did you do it?” He asks, closing the ring box.

“After a long day of walking around Paris, we were in our hotel room and I beat your mother to it, much to her surprise,” Adena chimes.

“She ruined my moment! After all these years, I still hold it against her,” I chime, causing Adena to shove me playfully.

“Did you two ever have a rough moment while you were married?”

“I don’t think we have,” Adena says, looking at me with a furrowed brow.

“Nothing that would threaten our marriage. You can’t count all the times I didn’t want to put the dishes away, or actually do laundry.”

“And there were a lot of those.”

“Make sure you keep Kaya happy. The saying stands true when it comes to, ‘happy wife, happy life,’ the littlest things can keep her the happiest,” I say, watching Kaeden nod, taking in all the information. 

“I just want to make sure this is the right thing like I feel like it’s the right thing. I am excited about marrying her, or the idea of marrying her. I just want her to say yes, and I hope she's on the same page as me.”

“Don’t worry, Love. Everything will be okay. You’ve been with her for a long time now, there is nothing to be worried about.”

“Your mother and I were engaged only a few months after dating. It wasn’t even a year,” I say, “so you have had more than enough time to learn about Kaya and grow as a couple.” 

“Do you want to hear a story?” Adena chimes, sitting up straighter.

“Sure.”

“Did we ever tell you how Mom and I met?”

“I don’t think so,” he says, shaking his head.   


“Very much in the same way you met Kaya, except I was taking photos for Scarlet.” 

“And Kaya came to interview me for her article in the paper.”

“Except I’m not a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer.”

“No, but Auntie Jane is,” he chimes. 

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes, “but she wasn’t a department head at twenty-five.”

“Calm down, Kat. We know you have to remind us of that all the time.”

“You even turned into that grandparent who has to tell your grandkids the story of the time you did something,” Kaeden teases.

“It is something I will always be proud of.”

“And you deserve to be,” Adena says, kissing the side of my head. 

“I just hope my marriage is as successful and fulfilling as yours.”

“It will be, don’t worry,” Adena smiles, reaching over and patting Kaeden’s knee.

“Thanks, Mama. I love you. I love you, too Mom.”

“We love you so much, Kae,” I say with a smile. 

“Am I the favorite?” He asks with a cheeky grin.

“No,” Adena says, “you know there isn’t a favorite. We love you and your sister equally.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourselves. Okay, I’m going to head back downstairs and go to bed. Don’t worry about getting up for Sasha in the morning, I’ll take care of him before I have to go.”

“Thank you,” I smile. We say our goodnights to Kaeden before he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

“You think we did a good job?” Adena asks, curling into my side and resting her head in the crook of my neck.

“I think we did an amazing job,” I chime, kissing her forehead.


End file.
